Ontario's push towards a ban on cellphones and social media in schools may be gaining momentum, but Brock University experts warn that without a clear plan, the move could leave students unprepared for the digital world beyond the classroom.
The province announced Tuesday (April 28) it is considering stronger restrictions on technology in schools, but Mohammed Estaiteyeh says the policy might fall short of what students actually need.
The Brock Assistant Professor of Digital Pedagogies and Technology Literacies says bans alone are not a "fix" and must be paired with a clear educational strategy to be effective.
"Any restrictions in schools should be reinforced with ongoing teaching on digital literacy, digital citizenship, online safety and artificial intelligence (AI) literacy," he says.
Otherwise, devices are being removed without teaching students how to handle them after school hours.
"Prohibition without education is a deferral, not a solution," he says.
Estaiteyeh says a ban could widen inequities and increase the "digital divide."
"Under-resourced schools rely on students' personal devices for educational purposes because the school itself cannot provide them," he says. "Furthermore, for students in underserved communities, a phone is often their primary computing device, their connection to family during long commutes and, in some cases, their accessibility tool."
If not all schools in Ontario have equitable access to classroom technology to facilitate technology-enriched lessons, a cellphone ban will affect schools very differently depending on where students live, Estaiteyeh says.
As Ontario has had restrictions on in-class phone use since April 2024, Estaiteyeh also questions what a ban on school properties would change in practice, and whether evaluation data from the 2024 policy is available to inform the expansion.
"Are we building on evidence or moving ahead of it? We need more details on who will enforce these rules and how," he says.
Social media bans in schools are also a pressing topic for education systems across Canada, evidenced by Manitoba's recent announcement it will ban social media and AI chatbot use in classrooms.
Estaiteyeh says he supports restricting social media in classrooms as the evidence is strong enough to act on but not as a standalone measure.
"Without enforceable guardrails on the tech companies themselves, age bans are easy to circumvent. Students find workarounds, and we know this," he says. "A ban without platform accountability is largely symbolic."
Professor of Educational Studies David Hutchison agrees, adding that schools have a role to play in helping students understand how addictive cellphones and social media can be.
"The Ontario curriculum should address this topic directly in health and physical education and other subject areas," he says.
Mixed messaging around AI and educational technologies (edtech) is also causing confusion for educators, policymakers and families.
"Ministries are simultaneously banning personal devices yet rolling out AI tools in classrooms and announcing more investment in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education where technology is crucial. This messaging is inconsistent," Estaiteyeh says.
He says Manitoba's recent announcement provides an example, as it bundled social media and AI chatbots together.
"Social media and AI are very different technologies. Treating them as a single category risks bad policy in both directions, under-regulating social media while over-restricting AI tools," he says.
Each technology has its own benefits and risks, Hutchison adds, and they must be separately assessed.
