Ontario Education Minister Paul Calandra says he is looking at a social media ban in schools and would like to go further than what Manitoba has planned.
Calandra says the province will be working closely with the federal government on a social media ban for kids under a certain age.
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He also says he is considering implementing an “outright ban” of cellphones on school properties, with some medical exemptions.
At a press conference today in southwest Ontario, Calandra said most ministers of education across the country are in agreement that it has not been beneficial to allow students to have access to phones and social media in school.
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Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew’s government recently announced that it plans to ban children from using social media accounts and artificial intelligence chatbots, starting in classrooms.
Federal Culture Minister Marc Miller has said the government is seriously considering a law enforcing age limits on social media use, as Australia has done.
100% this! Yes please. The current rules don’t work.
What a joke! They’re “banned” in high school classrooms now and every student won’t get off them during class.
Teachers and school staff are on school property thus they must also be banned! If not the move is hypocrisy
Plenty of people grew up before cell phones. Not having one used to be normal. Pretending it’s a safety issue not to have one is rediculous. Time away from phones and social media is the best thing for everyone.
And when my kid is heading home then what? Nowadays kid’s have a cellphone for safety reasons when they are on their way to their sports programs and so forth. Right now phones are to be in lockers already. If seen outside before the end of the day they lose it. Also I personally have an app to monitor and shutdown all but 911 and the ability to call myself from my cellphone during certain hours
I agree with the other comments my son had a phone but doesn’t even take it out of his bag during the day he only uses it contact us his parents banning him from being able to do that I would be opposed to
Will not work. As a parent, my child has a cell phone so she can call me if she has an issue on the way home. It is a safety issue. If she goes to a friends house, most people do not have land lines, so she needs something to tell me where she is. – One can make it against the school rules to use a cell during class, but not on the child’s free time.
My child uses kid messenger and snapchat to talk with friends and relatives. To try to block that is against our rights. This will go to court, and interfering with communication between a parent and their child will not go over well. There will be consequences for even suggesting such an act.