Over the past 20 years, cell phones have become increasingly integral to the lives of our children. The newness of the technology was exciting, but now we are beginning to realize the repercussions of unfettered access to technology as we are seeing depression and anxiety increase in kids, cyberbullying and suicide rates climbing. It felt impossible to perceive the risks that cell phones brought before they were suddenly here. 

Cell phones are impacting learning as well. Students are constantly distracted. Teachers feel the pressure to police cell phone use while also feeling like their lessons now have to compete with the entertainment level of TikTok videos, Instagram reels and Snapchat streaks. 

So what are schools doing about it? Broad sweeping bans. Across Canada, the United States, parts of Europe, and Australia, schools and entire provinces are implementing cell phone bans this year. Problem solved! …not quite. The bans have had varying results, largely dependent on the stance the administration takes on the issue. Schools in which the administration takes a firm and vocal stance supporting the ban, with clear boundaries in place and support for teachers to implement the policy, have had much better results.

This was the first year that Regina high schools had a cell phone ban. My personal experience has primarily been in elementary schools recently, where cell phones have been less of a battle, but I had the opportunity to work for several weeks in two of the high schools in Regina in the second half of the school year, and it was interesting to see the lack of impact the ban had in the schools. Students had their cell phones everywhere. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought no ban had ever occurred. When I spoke with other teachers to understand their approach and gather their perspective on the policy, it confirmed what I had read in my research on the issue. The teachers feel like they are fighting a losing battle against the cell phones. They said the ban lasted the first week or two and then, fairly quickly, things slid and the cell phones returned. Students are so attached to their phones that they feel unable to part with them during class time and often value what’s happening on their phones much more than whatever their teacher might be talking about on a given day. Students use their phones to coordinate bathroom meet-ups to vape. The teachers I spoke with did say that the ban did make a difference in the classrooms for some. Where whole classes of students were blatantly on their phones during lessons before the ban, teachers have now seen more buy-in when they instruct students to keep their phones away during lesson time—a small but meaningful impact. 

The question I come back to is– Is the full-scale ban the way to deal with the cell phone issue? My personal experience and expert opinions would suggest that, no, the ban is not the way to go. But, it did seem like it was what was needed until schools were able to come up with a better approach– a stopgap, if you will.

School leaders and policy makers need to find a way to manage the risks cell phones bring for our students. Implementing methods to teach “responsible mobile-device use and digital literacy may be a more effective and sustainable alternative to blanket bans.” I understand that this is no small challenge. It may feel insurmountable for schools to establish a digital literacy program, but it remains relevant as technology is rapidly changing. We need to start somewhere. Maybe the first step lies with ensuring students are introduced to the issues by “embedding online safety and cyber‑citizenship education into the existing curriculum and professional learning frameworks.” We have to start somewhere, and avoiding the problem by banning cell phones will not equip students with the skills they need to enter adulthood and responsibly manage cell phone use as they enter the workforce. 

“If we want to pursue a future that celebrates success not only in terms of abundance but also in terms of humanity, we must help our digital kids balance the individual empowerment of digital technology use with a sense of personal, community, and global responsibility. School is an excellent place to help kids become capable digital citizens who use technology not only effectively and creatively, but also responsibly and wisely. But we can only do that if we help them live one life, not two.” – Jason Ohler