Education Minister Krista Lynn Howell says it is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that government’s new cell phone policy is enforceable.

The new policy will be implemented when students return to class in the new year.

It prohibits personal electronic devices, such as cell phones, from being present during the school day from Kindergarten to grade 6, and during instructional time from grades seven to twelve. Exceptions will be permitted for students who need their devices for medical reasons and things of that nature.

The onus will be on teachers to make sure the policy is enforced in the classroom, but Howell argues everyone has a role to play.

She says the responsibility will be on everyone to “change the narrative,” and to “appreciate the learning aspect of our classrooms, the distractions that these cell phones can provide (and) that personal devices deter and disrupt our classrooms.”