Ontario Education Minister Paul Calandra says he is looking at a social media ban in schools.
Speaking at a news conference Tuesday 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.
Calandra said the province will be working closely with the federal government on a social media ban for kids under a certain age.
He also said he is considering implementing an “outright ban” of cellphones on school properties with some medical exemptions, saying that he would like Ontario’s rules to go further than what provinces like Manitoba had announced.
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.
