Iain Black, who is currently hoping to become the next leader of the Conservative Party of British Columbia, is promising to ban cellphones in all classrooms if he becomes the next B.C. premier.
In a social media post, Black said that classrooms in B.C. are competing with the most addictive technology ever created, and that kids are paying the price.
“The attention span of our students is dropping. The anxiety is clearly increasing. And you’ve got classrooms that are constantly interrupted,” Black said in a post on X.
Phones out of classrooms. Focus back on learning. When I am Premier I will ban cell phones in all classrooms.
Right now, BC classrooms are competing with some of the most addictive technology ever created and it’s our kids who are paying the price. Declining attention spans.… pic.twitter.com/Ms1pah5sBm
— Iain Black (@iainblackbc) March 30, 2026
The BC NDP party did institute some changes that introduced some restrictions on cellphones in the classroom, which came into force in April 2024.
In response to Black’s X post, many pointed this out, suggesting the NDP already implemented a bell-to-bell restriction in late 2024.
However, Black said those changes didn’t go far enough.
“Boards must ensure their codes of conduct include one or more statements about restricting the use of personal digital devices (any personal electronic device that can be used to communicate or to access the internet, such as a cell phone or a tablet) at school,” the NDP’s messaging states.
Black suggests the policies weren’t clear, saying, “The NDP failed at a half-hearted effort to regulate this a couple of years ago. They rolled out some policies that were unclear. They were unenforceable. And it left the policing of this classroom ban on cellphones up to individual classroom teachers who were actually trying to teach at the same time.”
The failure of that NDP effort was delegating what *should have been* a province-wide mandate/ban to individual school boards. School boards interpreted the direction, wrote their own policies on it, and then implemented it differently throughout the province. The impact of…
— Iain Black (@iainblackbc) March 30, 2026
We will learn who the new B.C. Conservative Party leader will be announced on May 30, 2026, when the news is announced at the Leadership Convention. The current interim leader is Trevor Halford.
The Conservative Party recently got some bad news after it went public that MLA Hon Chan was removed from the caucus after domestic violence charges were laid against him.