France to Trial Complete Cellphone Ban in Schools

High school students use smartphones and tablet computers at the vocational school in Bischwiller, eastern France, on Sept. 26, 2017. Patrick Hertzog/AFP via Getty Images

France is taking steps to completely restrict cellphone use in schools by starting a trial across 200 schools.

The program will be implemented in volunteer schools, representing over 50,000 students, according to details released by the Ministry of National Education on Aug. 27.

Cellphone use is already restricted in French schools under a 2018 law that prohibits students from using phones on school grounds but allows them to keep the devices with them.

However, the new “digital pause” aims to go further by requiring students to leave their phones at the entrance of the school.

According to Education Minister Nicole Belloubet, the trial will “minimize the presence of cellphones as much as possible” in classrooms and corridors.

The digital break involves removing students’ cellphones during school hours to prevent online harm, reduce screen exposure, and reinforce rules about the use of digital devices.

The French government has said that the experiment will improve the overall school environment, as excessive cellphone use has been linked to increased instances of online bullying.

The pilot program, if successful, is expected to be rolled out nationwide by Jan. 1, 2025.

Macron

French President Emmanuel Macron has expressed interest in extending a ban on smartphone use for children under 11 and social media access for those under 15 across France.

In a press conference in June, Macron referenced a report from an expert panel led by neurologist Servane Mouton and psychiatry professor Amine Benyamina.

The report highlighted that while technology can empower and liberate children by giving them easier access to information, it also poses significant risks.

“For the first time, on a given subject, a child can know more than their parent, teacher, or even a minister,” it said.

However it warned that “like anything shaped by humans, technology also has the ability to imprison, alienate, and subjugate children.”

The report said that the detrimental effects of hyper-connectivity on children have “consequences for their health, development, future, and our future as well—the future of our society, our civilization, and perhaps even our humanity.”

The authors of the report said they were “shaken” by their findings regarding the strategies used to capture children’s attention and found that their cognitive biases are used to “trap them on their screens, control them, re-engage them, and monetize them.”

File photo of school children during class at a primary school in the UK on Nov. 27, 2019. Danny Lawson/PA Wire

Bans

European countries have implemented bans or restrictions on mobile devices in schools to various extents.

UK guidance says that schools should prohibit the use of cellphones, but they have autonomy on how to do this.

A report by the think tank Policy Exchange found that 84 percent of primary schools had an effective ban on smartphones. In secondary schools, that number was down to 11 percent, with a little more than half practicing a type of ban under which phones are still allowed in students’ bags.

Italy first introduced a ban on smartphones in classrooms in 2007, though this was not widely enforced.

Recently introduced guidelines under Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni mean the use of smartphones will be banned from primary level up to junior high school. This prohibition applies to all smartphone use, including for educational purposes.

Several regions in Spain, including Catalonia and Galicia, have implemented bans on cellphone use in schools, with policies varying across different areas.