This article originally appeared in the Telegraph Journal.
By Paul W. Bennett, September 12, 2025
When New Brunswick updated Policy 311 in 2024, Bill Hogan, education minister at that time, hailed it as a step forward in curbing classroom cellphone distractions. The new rules require students to keep phones on silent and in a designated classroom area, allowing use only with teacher approval or for medical reasons. It was not a ‘ban’ but rather a “strengthening” of expectations, responding to broader public concerns over digital distraction in schools.
Yet one year into implementation, the policy has become essentially an orphan. New Education Minister Claire Johnson has yet to address the issue and there’s a striking gap: no evidence has been published to demonstrate whether the policy is achieving its aims.
Policy on paper, practice in question
The intent of Policy 311 is straightforward: reduce distractions, improve focus, and create conditions for better learning. Districts and schools have been tasked with updating their own rules to align with the directive. At Fredericton High School, for example, handbooks now spell out consequences for misuse, and other Anglophone districts provide similar discipline guidelines.
But on the ground, practices remain inconsistent. Some elementary schools have moved toward fuller bans, while others leave decisions largely to individual teachers. Without common enforcement and monitoring, effectiveness varies from classroom to classroom.
Where’s the evidence it’s working?
The Education and Early Childhood Development Department has cited “evidence” supporting reduced phone use. What’s missing is any New Brunswick-specific assessment of how the policy plays out in classrooms.
Most New Brunswickers (78 per cent), according to Pollaris (May 2025), favour a full ban on cellphones in classrooms. Yet, to date, the policy looks like a potential dead letter. Nor is there any indication of monitoring efforts to assess the rates of student discipline for infractions, levels of class engagement, or related improvements in academic achievement.
What national and international data show
The stakes are high for the province’s children. According to the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), 80 per cent of Canadian students report being distracted in math class by their own devices – well above the OECD average. Fifty-nine per cent say they’re distracted by others’ devices.
The performance gap is significant: students not distracted by phones score, on average, 15 points higher in math – roughly three-quarters of a school year of learning.
New Brunswick’s own track record is troubling. Between 2003 and 2022, provincial math scores dropped by 44 points, representing a loss of more than two years of learning. The province now trails the Canadian average by 29 points, putting its students about a year and a half behind. While phone use isn’t the sole cause, the correlation between distraction and declining outcomes is hard to ignore.
The limits of partial measures
Critics point out that even requiring phones to be “in the room but out of hand” falls short. Evidence-based research shows that the mere presence of a device—visible or within reach—can sap attention and working memory, even when not in use. In this light, Policy 311 looks more like a compromise than a decisive break with digital distraction.
Teachers, too, face enforcement challenges. Policies that depend on individual discretion can lead to inconsistency, classroom conflict, and uneven results across schools.
Voices from the field
Educators, parents, and advocates have all weighed in. Child and Youth Advocate Kelly Lamrock has linked cellphone use to mental health concerns, citing alarming increases in youth depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. Reducing exposure to social media in school, he argues, could help.
Some parents welcome stricter controls, seeing them as common-sense guardrails. Teachers across Canada report positive results when bans are properly enforced, significantly reducing the time spent on telling kids to put the devices away.
Yet others caution about unintended consequences. Removing phones without providing alternatives can disadvantage students with disabilities or those who rely on devices for learning accommodations.
Online forums echo the divide: some students and parents applaud progress, while others wish the province would “just go back” to a full ban.
Digital policy tensions
The University of New Brunswick’s McKenna Institute, a hub for advancing digital transformation may be a factor. While the institute itself has not taken a formal position on children’s screen time or youth digital addiction, its mandate emphasizes digital literacy, equity of access, and preparing young people for the digital economy.
UNB education professors – some linked informally to the institute’s work – have described New Brunswick’s approach as a “balancing act.” While they acknowledge the risks of distraction, some are resistant to outright bans. Students need to develop the skills to manage devices responsibly, in their view, and promoting digital literacy is a more sustainable long-term solution than prohibition in schools.
Instead of framing teen screen time as a health hazard, the institute stresses responsible and inclusive use of digital tools. That position complicates calls for blanket restrictions, and may actually undercut appeals to curb social media addiction and excessive cellphone use.
The missing piece
The real problem with New Brunswick’s cellphone policy is not its intent but its total lack of accountability. Without systematic evaluation – tracking disciplinary incidents, surveying teachers and students, or measuring academic impact – claims of success rest on anecdotes, not evidence.
Policy 311 may well improve classroom focus in some schools, but without data, no one can say how widespread or sustainable the benefits are.
Moving beyond symbolic policy
New Brunswick has taken a cautious step toward curbing classroom distraction. But until the province commits to rigorous evaluation, the updated Policy 311 risks being more symbolic than substantive.
Other jurisdictions, from Quebec to Ontario, are moving toward clearer restrictions and tighter enforcement. New Brunswick, by contrast, sits in the grey zone – tightening rules on paper, but leaving implementation patchy and outcomes unmeasured.
If the aim is to restore classroom focus and stem learning loss, the province must do more than issue guidelines. It needs to measure what matters: are students paying more attention, are teachers facing fewer disruptions, and are outcomes improving?
With broader, more explicit rules, firmer enforcement, and honest evaluation, New Brunswick might be able to salvage this policy initiative. Right now the orphaned policy is in search of new parents.
Paul W. Bennett, Ed.D., is Education Columnist, Brunswick News, Senior Fellow, Macdonald-Laurier Institute and author of Weapons of Mass Distraction: Curbing Social Media Addiction and Reclaiming the Smartphone Generation (2024)
