French Government to Ban Cell Phone Use in Schools

In this photograph taken on Sept. 26, 2017, high school students use smartphones and tablet computers at the vocational school in Bischwiller, eastern France. Since the beginning of the school year in eastern France some 31,000 high school pupils have replaced their traditional textbooks by computers and tablets , a move popular with students but opinion is divided among teachers and parents. Patrick Hertzog/AFP/Getty Images

Cell phones are to be completely banned in schools across France, the government has announced.

The blanket ban will start in Sept. 2018, the next school year, said the French education minister. It will apply to children aged 6 to 15 years old in primary, junior and middle schools.