Let's face it, cellphones are incredibly distracting for adults, let alone children, and should not be accessible during school hours.

Last week the province announced a much-anticipated ban on cellphone use at school from "bell-to-bell". We applaud this development (even if the timing does demonstrate case in point how far behind the advance of technology we are with our laws and regulations, but that's a whole other editorial).

Cellphones can be great when we have a few minutes of downtime and want something low-effort to do. Or, to harken back to their original use, when we need to communicate with someone. But there can be no argument that they draw the attention, whether we want them to or not. The things most people do on them — play games, scroll various social media — use algorithms that are specifically designed to keep your attention once they have it, so your eyes remain glued to that little screen for as long as possible. They're made to be addictive, because that's how they can sell your eyeballs to advertisers, or in the case of many games, get you to spend cash, often through micropayments, for various add-ons.

How many adults have you seen walking along a road or sidewalk with their minds so deep in the screen they're peering at that they almost (or sometimes do) actually run right into things in front of them or step out into traffic? Who has been to the theatre or another event where people are required to put their phones away for a few minutes and witnessed half the audience almost frantically take them out again at intermission as if these devices are water after a year in the desert?

Now picture how difficult it must be for children to tear their eyes and minds away from these handheld distraction machines during class. And for teachers to educate when competing with these gadgets.

Believe it or not, there are still many of us alive today who remember a time before the ubiquitous cellphone. Somehow we all managed to survive the school experience without one to hand, and many of us, looking back with the clarity of hindsight, thank whatever power we believe in that our youthful transgressions (or just unfortunate opinions) were never posted to social media to live on for eternity.

Which brings us to another reason why Premier David Eby said the ban has been brought in: the negative effects on socialization and mental health, particularly from social media. Online bullying, sextortion, and just plain disinformation are real worries that we can at least try to keep at bay during school hours.

Perhaps we should all take a look at how much of our precious time and attention we give away to our technology and figure out a bell-to-bell respite in our own lives.