The Ontario government’s new ban on cellphone use in classrooms is welcome, not just because it is self-evidently sensible, but because it returns at least some consistent rules and discipline to the province’s schools. Maybe the concept will catch on.

Starting next September, Ontario will ban cellphone use by all elementary students and ban their use in middle-school and high-school classrooms. Students from grades 7 to 12 will still be able to use their phones at lunch and between classes. Students at all levels can use phones if they have permission from their teacher. The new plan is meant to strengthen a 2019 policy, which it left up to boards and individual schools to implement, by making bans non-discretionary and province-wide. There will also be a crackdown on vaping, smoking and cannabis use in schools.