Following the success of its cell phone ban last year, the division scolaire Franco-Manitobaine (DSFM) has decided to take technology restriction one step further. Beginning this fall, teachers in the division’s Kindergarten to Grade Eight schools in Manitoba will restrict classroom screentime to a maximum of one hour per day.
In Ritchot, this includes École Sainte-Agathe and École Régional Gabrielle-Roy.
“It’s easier to apply [restrictions at this level] because teachers in K-to-8 are spending 80 percent of their time with the kids,” says Alain Laberge, DSFM’s superintendent. “The other 20 percent is mostly gym or music and most of those courses don’t necessitate screentime.”
For Grades Nine to Twelve, he says this structure would have been more difficult since each course is delivered by a different teacher in a different classroom.
“We just ask our teachers at this level to use their judgment and say, ‘Do you really need to be in front of a screen all day?’ Laberge says. “Using their judgement, I think, is the best thing.”
Laberge says the idea originated with some of the division’s teachers, who were looking for a homogenous directive on screen use in the classroom.
School staff and administrators were surveyed in the spring, resulting in ubiquitous buy-in for a one-year pilot program.
In June, a letter was sent out to parents informing them of the decision. Laberge says that they’ve received only positive feedback so far.
It’s important to understand, he adds, that the DSFM is not trying to take technology away from students. These kids are, after all, growing up in a digital world where computer skills are important.
Instead the hope is that this new directive will help instill a sense of self-monitoring and life balance and reinforce the important nature of interpersonal socialization.
In recent years, more and more data has come forward pointing to the detrimental effects of extensive screentime among young people.
But Laberge says that screentime isn’t only creating a human disconnect. The internet, through algorithm customization, is exposing kids to fewer contrary ideas while they’re online.
“The best place is school to debate, to have conversations, and to have people who are challenging us,” Laberge says. “You can’t do that when you’re all by yourself in front of the computer screen.”
While it can be argued that the internet is a useful tool in a student’s education, he estimates that it’s being used for educational purposes only 20 percent of the time. The rest is spent on social media distractions.
“Twenty years ago, we used dictionaries and the library,” says Laberge. “But we wouldn’t spend an hour in front of a dictionary.”
One year into the cell phone ban initiative, that program has moved from pilot project to permanent directive. Laberge anticipates that the same could happen with the screentime policy.
In January 2025, DSFM administrators also hope to implement directives on the use of artificial intelligence in the classroom. The purpose is not to control it, Laberge says, but to provide resources for its healthy use.
This will include student workshops to help children understand both the positive and negative aspects of AI.
“The internet is quite powerful,” Laberge says. “I’m not sure that teenagers and younger kids understand that. Our job is to make sure that they understand both sides and, after that, they realize it’s their own choice.”
