Picking the right target

Last week, Premier Wab Kinew commented about the possibiliity of banning YouTube for teachers, quickly sparking conversation across the profession.

I disagree — for reasons that span both systemic underfunding and sound pedagogy — but it also clarified something more important for us to consider.

I do believe he is looking in the right direction. The issue is that he has chosen the wrong target.

At its core, any ban of YouTube points to something bigger: long-term thinking about the lives we want for our children.

When the province banned cellphone use in schools in 2024, I immediately saw a change.

Instead of mindlessly scrolling before the bell or during lunch, students began playing, reading, and talking face-to-face — a welcome shift after the isolating years of COVID. They were less interrupted, more present, and more engaged.

Many people would call that policy a bull’s-eye.

It worked because it challenged a modern norm that had quietly reshaped childhood. It recognized that, without clear boundaries, cultural norms — and the systems that imbed those norms — can drift away from what we actually want and know to be good.

The phone policy worked because we want childhood to be full of play, good mental health, academic growth, and meaningful relationships. Cellphones are reshaping this.

That kind of leadership — leadership that imagines a healthier future and aligns policy to support it — has felt increasingly rare in a political climate dominated by short-term, headline-driven decisions that do little to strengthen our communities or prepare us for what lies ahead.

A YouTube ban would appear to follow that same logic — but it misses a critical element. It has not been meaningfully shaped by the expertise of educators, grounded in research, or centred on the lived experiences of those most impacted by it. As a result, it risks being more symbolic than effective.

And if we are serious about shaping better futures for our children, there are far more pressing targets that demand our attention.

This month, the Climate Action Team launched its 50/50 campaign calling on the province to restore 50 per cent funding to Winnipeg Transit.

Children should grow up in a city that is affordable, accessible, and connected — a city where reliable and safe public transit makes it possible to move freely without financial strain. We already have stated goals to reach 50 per cent alternative transportation use in Winnipeg within the next few years. Where is the policy alignment to make that vision real?

Children should inherit a climate that isn’t defined by summers of air quality warnings and extreme heat advisories. They should inherit an energy system that is resilient and sustainable — one powered by renewables and supported by proven battery technology, not costly and outdated fossil fuel infrastructure.

We should have shed our status as the child poverty capital of Canada long ago — a place where families should be deciding which sport their child will play, not where the next meal will come from.

Policies like gas tax holidays and Hydro rate freezes may offer short-term relief, but they do little to address the deeper inequities shaping the lives and futures of the 20 per cent of Manitoba children growing up in poverty.

These are the challenges that will define our children’s adulthood. These decisions will shape their opportunities, their health, and the kind of society they inherit.

Compared to these, YouTube in classrooms feels like a distraction from the policies that truly matter.

If we are going to make bold policy choices in the name of children, then let’s be bold in the right places. Let’s listen to those on the ground.

Let’s trust evidence.

And most importantly, let’s focus on the conditions that will shape not just how children experience today, but how they live tomorrow.

Because the question isn’t whether we should think long term. It’s whether we have the focus and courage to aim at the targets that actually matter.

Scott Durling is a father, teacher and environmental advocate in Winnipeg.