Schools vs. Screens

This past September, on the first day of class, an Ontario high school teacher I’ll call Adam attended a school-wide meeting about the province’s new restrictions on students’ smartphones. He and his colleagues had heard lots of buzz about the new rules, which they felt were long overdue, but had little concrete information about how teachers on the frontlines would enforce them.

According to Adam, the previous school year had been a gong show. Students arrived every morning with phones out and AirPods in, bleary-eyed from late nights scrolling. They texted during the national anthem and played mobile games under their desks. They shared pictures and videos of each other, of teachers and of after-school fights. They coordinated mid-period vape breaks in group chats. One student went to the bathroom and returned with an Uber Eats delivery. Any time Adam wrote on the board, he’d turn back around to find students glued to their glowing screens. Engagement had plummeted, grades were declining and, because Adam was constantly policing students’ phone use, his bond with them was fraying. “These kids want to do well, but they’re so lost,” says Adam.

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