It won’t be a complete ban, but use of cellphones will now be restricted for kids in school on a provincial level.
The latest effort of the BC government in a three-pronged endeavour is to restrict the use of cellphones for kids while they are attending school.
Premier David Eby made the announcement on Friday, January 26th that this is being done to try to protect kids from online predators and to shield them from harmful social media usage.
“Today, kids live with different challenges than they did a generation ago, and they face them all in the palm of their hand,” said Premier David Eby. “While cellphones, the internet and social media help us connect with each other, they also present risks that can harm kids.”
“The impact and influence of these tools is so great, and the corporations so powerful, it can be overwhelming for parents. That’s why we are taking action to protect kids from the threats posed by online predators and the impacts of social media companies.”
The other two prongs of this endeavour are the launching of services to have intimate images removed from the internet and hold accountable those who put them there as well as holding social media companies accountable for their part in the harm done to kids on their services.
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According to the Province, classroom interruption from cellphone usage, addictive social media algorithms and online predators are three issues of paramount importance that children deal with.
They say studies suggest that children’s mental health and physical safety can suffer as a result of these issues and the intrinsically negative aspects of overstimulated kids who are on their phone too often.
Body-image distortion, cyberbullying, images shared without consent and disturbing instances of sextortion are all risks that kids these days face.
Going forward, the Province says that they will work with school districts to put together policies that will work for their kids—with the new policies being implemented at the beginning of next school year.
“Having cellphones in the classroom can be a distraction from the kind of focused learning we want kids to experience at school,” said Rachna Singh, Minister of Education and Child Care. “There also is a time and a place for cellphones, including when they support student accessibility purposes.
“By learning in a safe school environment how to use their cellphones responsibly and respectfully, including when to put them away, students will be better able to develop healthy habits around technology and social media use in their everyday lives.”
Shortly after Premier Eby released this information, Sonia Furstenau, Leader of the BC Greens and MLA for Cowichan Valley released a statement in response to the announcement.
“Today’s announcement is a step forward in protecting our children in schools. However, a successful ‘no phones’ policy requires more than just bans,” Fusrtenau said.
“Technology is now a core part of our education system. To be successful, this strategy should extend beyond restrictions and include investment to ensure all students in British Columbia have the necessary tools and are included and supported.
Ultimately, she said her party applauds the commitment and the approach the BC NDPs are taking, but they will be watching closely in how these initiatives are administered.”
In addition, BC says they will be implementing more digital literacy into school curriculums to teach them how to recognize sextortion and online predators.
Protecting kids from predators and social media
The Intimate Images Act was first announced in March of last year, and at the end of January it will be fully implemented and ready for use.
The Province will be launching two new services to help people stop or prevent online distribution of explicit images of them and to subsequently help them pursue legal action from those who are responsible for the distribution.
“Technology can be an extremely useful tool, but when used by bad actors it can have devastating impacts on people’s lives,” said Niki Sharma, Attorney General.
“That’s why we are providing supports for people, especially young adults, to take down their private images from websites and pursue damages against predators.”
Their next move will be to introduce legislation to hold companies such as Meta, who own Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, responsible for their platforms and the damage done to children because of them.
These changes will be coming in spring 2024.
