Article content TORONTO – When Ontario banned students from using cellphones in class in 2024, kids in Grades 7 to 12 were still allowed to access their devices between classes and during lunch time. But those days may be coming to an end. Calls are growing for a “bell-to-bell” ban, requiring phones to stay in bags or lockers for the entire school day – something Ontario students Grade 6 and under are already required to do.
Recommended Videos Education Minister Paul Calandra said the idea is being actively considered by the government. The province launched a review of the cellphone policy for schools last month, he said, “which would include a full ban on cellphones” at school. “When we go to the Canadian Education Ministers Conference in two weeks, we are going to be visiting some of the Quebec schools that have already instituted this to get some of the results they have had,” Calandra told Postmedia at Queen’s Park on Monday.
“Anecdotally, it seems very positive.” Quebec instituted a bell-to-bell cellphone ban at the beginning of the 2025 school year after initially also allowing students to use their phones between classes. British Columbia imposed their own bell-to-bell ban in 2024. “They’re not going to be out in the hallways, not going to be out in the schoolyards.
It’s a bell-to-bell restriction on cellphones, recognizing that there are some kids with disabilities that may require access to a phone for an accommodation of some kind,” B.C. Premier David Eby said in 2024. Similar bans have also been implemented in parts of Australia, Spain and Norway.
Parents groups in Ontario have formed to push for greater restrictions on phone use in schools, two of which held a press conference at the Legislature on Monday after delivering a petition that was tabled in the house by Progressive Conservative MPP Brian Saunderson. Phone-Free Schools Movement executive director Angie Clark said the province has argued cellphones are too distracting – by design – to be allowed in schools, even if they are limited to breaks and lunchtime. By banning them for the entire day, she believes students will be free to focus better on class and have healthier social interactions.
“Constant (online) connection deprives adolescents of the real-world practice they need to develop memory, independent problem solving, and self control. There is also an issue of student safety because group chats and social media allow peer conflicts and digital harassment to escalate and disrupt the school environment, drawing focus away from learning,” Clark said. “This is not an anti-technology stance.
It is a pro-childhood stance.” Margo Denomme, founder of Raising Awareness About Digital Dangers, said that as a Crown attorney she saw firsthand how online drama could get so bad that it sometimes ended up in the courts. “When you take the phones out of school, you take out a lot of daily drama,” she said. A survey conducted by Toronto Metropolitan University last year found 81 per cent of Canadians support phone restrictions in schools.
But only 34 per cent respondents were in favour of a bell-to-bell ban, while 40 per cent supported allowing students to use their phones during breaks and lunch. One of the researchers behind this survey, Rajender Singh, noted there was also concern among respondents about whether cellphone bans are effective. Only 37 per cent of respondents thought they are effective, although 50 per cent of parents with school-aged children believe they are.
Singh said “getting the policy right is only half the challenge. “Schools need support to make phone restrictions actually work, with clear guidance on the storage and enforcement, and resources for teachers,” Singh said. “No single intervention is going to solve the problem.” Colin Matthew is vice-president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation.
He said teachers say enforcement of the current ban has been difficult, with students constantly finding ways to hide their devices in class. “There are 30-plus kids in a class, and kids have their phones under their desk or in their bag. There are a huge number of kids with second phones for all kinds of reasons,” said Matthew, who is skeptical that banning phones during breaks would make enforcement easier.
“What’s the consequence of taking your cellphone out of your bag at lunch hour?” Even if Ontario does go ahead with the bell-to-bell ban, Calandra said the government won’t ban students from taking their phones to school, even if they have to be put away during school hours. While he understands the desire of parents for a stricter ban, as a matter of policy, the idea “is a distraction.” What would help students more, he argued, is having smaller class sizes, improved curriculums, and improved supports such as special education. “I think a bell-to-bell ban on cellphones could have some benefit for student focus, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t really get to the heart of the matter,” he said.
