Phones and Smart Devices Banned in Schools across France

Now French children will have to keep their smartphones and other internet-connected devices at their home, while they are in schools. A law has been passed recently in France, which bans the use of smartphones and other kinds of internet connected devices, which also include tablets, banned for school children between the age of 3 years and 15 years of age.

Though high schools in France are given an option to choose whether they wish to ban the devices for children above 15 years or not. Education Minister of France, Jean Michel Blanquer said, “We know today that there is a phenomenon of screen addiction, the phenomenon of bad mobile phone use. Our main role is to protect children and adolescents. It is a fundamental role of education, and this law allows it”. Minister Jean Michel Blanquer also said “these days the children don’t play at break time anymore. They are just all in front of their smartphones and from an educational point of view, that’s a problem.”

The law is among one of the President Emmanuel Macron’s election campaign promises, which was supported by most of the members in the French Parliament. In 2010, a law has been approved in France, according to which there is a ban on the use of smartphones during all teaching activities. Now the new law makes an exception allowing the disabled children and children during the extracurricular activities, can use their phones.

Recently, observing the increasing dependence on smartphones a new term has been coined “nomophobia” or “No Mobile Phone Phobia”, which means the fear of not able to use one’s smartphone. According to a survey conducted in the UK recently, showed that 66% of people have some or the other form of nomophobia and about 41% respondents said they have two or more phones with them to stay connected all the time.

The addiction of smartphones is also changing the pattern of the brain of the human being and as the rate of smartphones and internet addiction is rising, the adverse effects of these are falling on one’s brain and gradually it is disturbing the whole nervous system.

According to a research conducted in South Korea, it is found that the teenagers with smartphone and internet addiction have a higher level of neurotransmitter in their brains that slows down neurons, resulting in a reduced level of control and attention, leading people to distractions.

London School of Economics and Political Science in its study recently has shown that banning smartphones in schools have resulted in a clear improvement in a student’s performance in their exam scores.

According to French telecoms regulator ARCEP, more than 90% of teenagers between the age of 12 years to 17 years were having mobile phones in the year 2016 in France and that is why it is alarming for the future of the country and lawmakers are bound to take step to ban this by passing the law, which the country hopes will be useful.