STATEMENT: Manitoba-wide cellphone restrictions in schools brings student well-being to the forefront

Today, the Manitoba government became the latest in a growing chorus of provinces that have announced restrictions on cellphone use by students in the classroom. Mounting evidence about the harmful effects of excessive cellphone use on student learning, well-being, and online safety justifies the need for this type of decisive action by our elected leaders.

The Canadian Centre for Child Protection gives its full support for these new measures.

Far from digital abstinence, these policies recognize and send a strong message that not all technology uses are of equal quality, nor are they appropriate in all contexts. This is a crucial step to help model and promote healthy digital habits for children in Manitoba — habits that will serve them well into their lives, making them less vulnerable to online harms.

In addition to our support, we recognize that repeated public opinion polling shows a strong majority of citizens, parents, and teachers in Canada and abroad support these measures as well. A nationally representative poll¹ from May 2024 found that nearly eight in 10 Canadians support a cell phone ban in K-12 classrooms.

We hope this initiative will also pave the way for stronger technology-use policies in schools and digital literacy curricula in classrooms. We look forward to working with and supporting Manitoba and other provincial and territorial governments to help ensure that schools are safe places where children learn and thrive.

1. 1 https://dais.ca/reports/canadians-support-for-a-k-12-cellphone-ban-survey-brief/#summary ↩