I can read and write, but I can’t play.
A Canadian province has become the latest to ban mobile phone use in schools when schools return to class next month.
Manitoba kindergarten through middle school students are banned from bringing cell phones to school, while high school students are allowed to bring and use their phones during lunch and recess, but not during class. CBC News reported..
Manitoba was the last Western Canadian province to introduce such a ban, and it has garnered enthusiastic support from some students.
“Kids really aren’t paying attention,” sixth-grader Julilyn Irene Bonifacio-Weeks told the outlet.
“They’re always texting and being rude to teachers.”
High school student Annabelle Dacey said the ban could help cut down on harmful cyberbullying.
“Schools should be places of acceptance and where students feel safe to learn,” Dacey told the outlet.
School officials told the media that the school would make some exceptions, such as when a cell phone is needed for educational reasons or for students with medical and learning needs.
Rules regarding school staff have yet to be finalized.
The ban comes in response to growing concerns about how cellphone use in schools can be a distraction, and calls for such a crackdown have yet to be implemented in New York.
In New York City public schools, “students are permitted to bring mobile phones, computer devices, and portable music and entertainment systems to school.” According to NYC 311.
“Each school has its own cell phone policy. Students who bring cell phones to school must only use them in accordance with the school’s cell phone rules.”
But the New York City principal He told Chalkbeat It was reported last month that the city was considering banning mobile phone use in schools from February, but Education Department spokesman Nathaniel Steyer told the outlet that “no decisions have been made yet.”
