Ontario tightens rules on cellphone use, bans vaping in schools

The Ontario government is introducing new measures to crack down on cellphone use and vaping in schools as the province sees an "alarming rise" of vaping and cellphone distractions in classrooms.

In an announcement Sunday, Education Minister Stephen Lecce said the province is removing distractions as part of its back-to-basics plan, and addressing the "negative impact" of mobile devices, social media and vaping in classrooms.

"We have heard loud and clear from parents and teachers alike that cellphones in classrooms are distracting kids from learning," Lecce said in a news release.

"When it comes to cellphones, our policy is 'out of sight and out of mind,' as we get students back to the basics by restoring focus, safety and common sense back in Ontario schools."

Lecce is speaking at a news conference in North York on Sunday at 11:30 a.m.

Starting in the 2024-2025 school year, students in kindergarten to Grade 6 will be required to keep phones on silent and "out of sight" for the entire school day, unless they are granted permission to use it, the province said.

Similarly, students in Grades 7 to 12, will not be permitted to use their cellphones during class time without permission.

The release said social media websites will also be removed from all school networks and devices.

As part of these changes, teachers will undergo mandatory training, according to the province.

Vaping ban protects students from 'preventable threats'

Students who are caught with vapes or cigarettes will be forced to surrender them to the school, as part of the new measures. The student's parents will also be notified immediately, the province says.

The government said it has earmarked $30 million from its 2024 budget to install vape detectors and other security upgrades in schools.

Dr. Kieran Moore, the province's chief medical officer of health, said the vaping ban in schools will help protect students from "preventable threats.

"Ontario is seeing a growing number of youth in Grades 7 through 12 report using vaping products that contain and emit many toxic substances," Moore said.

"These products can affect the respiratory, immune and cardiovascular systems, and nicotine in these products is particularly harmful to youth brain development."

The announcement comes after four major Ontario school boards sued some of the largest social media companies to over their products, alleging the way they're designed has negatively rewired the way children think, behave and learn and disrupted the way schools operate.

The public district school boards of Toronto, Peel and Ottawa-Carleton, along with Toronto's Catholic counterpart, are looking for about $4.5 billion in total damages from Meta Platforms Inc., Snap Inc. and ByteDance Ltd., which operate the platforms Facebook and Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok respectively, according to separate but similar statements of claim filed in March.