The head of the province’s teachers’ union says there’s no doubt cell phones are a distraction, but questions how regulations like those being introduced in Ontario will be enforced.

NLTA president Trent Langdon says he would support similar legislation being adopted in this province, but questions a number of issues staff may run into while asking a student to fork over their device.

Langdon points to the fact that a number of devices have a value of over a thousand dollars and also contain confidential information, such as contact lists.

Then, says Langdon, there are the issues teachers may have in enforcing the rules. “Try to take a cell phone or ask a teenager to hand over one—in many ways it’s like asking them for a limb for god’s sake.”