1 week ago
France Moves Ahead With High School Mobile Phone Ban
France plans to stop students from using mobile phones inside high schools starting in September.
The government says this is part of an effort to reduce children’s screen time.
France’s top court rejected a separate plan about social media for children under 15.
However, the court did not reject the high school phone ban.
Schools will need to change their own rules to enforce it.
Some school leaders say they are not ready and cannot watch every student all the time.
Phones can also be useful for schedules, room changes, research, and schoolwork.
The government says schools can allow phones for educational or necessary school-related reasons.
France will ban mobile phone use in high schools from the September school year.
The Constitutional Council struck down a separate provision restricting social media access for children under 15.
Schools must amend their internal regulations to enforce the phone ban.
School leaders warn they have had too little time to prepare and enforce the measure.
Officials say exemptions will cover educational uses and purposes necessary for school operations.
- Who
- The French government, President Emmanuel Macron, school leaders, teachers, and high school students.
- What
- France will implement a ban on mobile phone use in high schools, while a separate social media restriction for children under 15 was struck down.
- Where
- High schools across France.
- When
- The phone ban is scheduled to begin at the start of the new school year in September; the government announced the decision on Monday.
- Why
- The government says the measure is part of President Emmanuel Macron’s effort to reduce children’s screen time and protect their development.
Government supporters
School leaders and local authorities
Timing and implementation
Government supporters
The government says the ban can begin in September under a stable statutory legal framework.
School leaders and local authorities
School leaders say schools are not ready because they have had little time to amend rules and prepare enforcement.
Enforcement practicality
Government supporters
Officials support applying the ban while allowing exemptions for educational and necessary school uses.
School leaders and local authorities
Union representatives say imposing a new rule is difficult and schools cannot place a supervisor behind every student.
Costs and usefulness
Government supporters
The government frames the ban as part of reducing children’s screen exposure and protecting their development.
School leaders and local authorities
Regional officials cite equipment costs, while schools note that students and teachers use phones for schedules, room assignments, research, exercises, and document sharing.
Key facts
- Implementation date
- Start of the new school year in September
- Legal status
- The phone-ban provision remains in the law after the Constitutional Council rejected the separate social media provision.
- Required school action
- Schools must amend their internal regulations.
- Existing restrictions
- Mobile phones are already banned in French primary schools and colleges attended by children aged 11 to 15.
- Estimated equipment cost
- Digital pouches and lockers cost about 40,000 euros for a high school with 1,500 students, according to a regional official.
- Exemptions
- The education ministry allows exemptions for educational uses or purposes necessary for the proper functioning of a school.
- Further government plan
- The government says it will prepare a new draft law on restricting children’s access to apps such as TikTok.
Quotes
Christelle Kauffmann
Deputy secretary-general of a school principals’ union
“It is very difficult for a school community to impose a new rule on young people. Even if the law is supposed to apply automatically, it is not that simple. You cannot put a supervisor behind every student.”
deccanchronicle.com
“Macron has decided to promulgate the law”
deccanchronicle.com
Francois Resnais
National secretary of SNPDEN-Unsa, France’s leading union of school principals
“Schools are not ready.”
deccanchronicle.com
Sources
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