France tests ban on students using phones in schools

France is trialling a mobile phone ban in schools for students aged 15 and under, in a bid to give the younger generation a “tech break”.

France will pilot a rule in 200 schools that could be rolled out nationwide by 2025, with students having to hand in their phones at the start of the day. (Source: Sky News)

The initiative is a big step forward from a rule introduced in 2018 that allowed students to bring phones to school but not use them.

A report by a commission set up by President Emmanuel Macron expressed concern about the negative effects of excessive screen time on children and society as a whole. President Macron said that phone addiction is the seed of all kinds of evils such as harassment, violence and school dropout.

The report noted negative impacts such as lack of exercise, obesity, and even vision problems, and said children under 11 should not have mobile phones.

Accordingly, parents, teachers, content producers, governments and the whole society must work together to solve this problem.

Neurologist Servane Mouton, a member of the committee, said phones need to be used in the right places and that it is important to be mindful of the age at which children start using them. “We need to rethink the way parents play with their children,” said Mouton.

However, some organisations have questioned how hundreds of students will be able to hand in and retrieve their phones every day. David Lelong, of the SE-UNSA teachers’ union, does not believe the measure will help reduce cyberbullying, as much of it occurs after school hours.

Bans on mobile phones in schools have long been proposed in countries across Europe, but have never been fully implemented, instead only varying restrictions have been imposed.

In Germany, the use of mobile phones and digital devices in the classroom is restricted to educational purposes only. The UK has previously issued guidelines on the use of phones in school environments, saying that the decision to impose regulations should be left to schools and teachers.

Spain has refused to impose a blanket ban on mobile phones in schools, instead restricting their use to different regions or areas. Italy was one of the first countries to ban phones for all age groups in 2007, but has since lifted the ban and will only reinstate it in 2022.

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