Smartphone bans in schools: Where is it happening and why?

By Rabia Ali

ISTANBUL (AA) – Across the world, the back-to-school story this year is all about one thing – students and their smartphones.

If one side were to have its way, the sight of students with eyes glued to their smartphone screens may soon become a thing of the past.

With the start of the new academic year, schools around the world, particularly in the US and several European countries, are taking steps to restrict students’ use of phones, while some are going for all-out bans.

There is, as expected, a raging debate about whether the pros of such a decision outweigh the cons, but the changes are still being made and students are coming back to a new reality at their schools.

- Where are smartphones being banned?

In the US, the push started from the state of Florida, where a law was passed last year requiring public schools to stop students from using devices like cell phones and headphones during class hours.

This year, at least eight states have followed suit with new laws, orders or rules aimed at curbing the use of phones during classes or the entire school day, according to a recent report by The New York Times.

The states are Louisiana, Indiana, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, Minnesota and Ohio.

Others that could move down the same path are California and New York, where the respective governors have indicated plans to engage with state lawmakers for legislation on the issue.

Across the pond in Europe, Hungary’s new academic session started in September with stricter restrictions and students not allowed to use phones in classrooms.

Under a new law passed by the government, school have to take away phones and others devices in the morning that are returned at the end of the school day.

In Belgium, the use of smartphones for students in primary and secondary schools in its French-speaking regions and the capital Brussels has been prohibited in the new academic year.

The ban covers over 370 French-language schools and around 132,600 students, with local media reporting that authorities in Belgium’s Flemish-speaking parts are also expected to impose similar curbs.

In neighboring France, mobile phones and other devices have been banned in nurseries and primary schools since 2018.

The country is now testing a pilot ban on mobile phones in 200 schools in the new academic year. Education Minister Nicole Belloubet said the move is aimed at preventing personal use of phones and does not rule out use for academic purposes.

If the trial goes well, she said, there could be a nationwide ban by January next year.

Italy, meanwhile, has banned mobile phones and devices like tablets in classrooms.

The restriction applies to students in kindergarten, primary and lower secondary schools, and also bars the use of these devices for teaching purposes.

Since 2007, Italy already had an existing ban on using devices for non-academic purposes, but it was not always enforced.

In the Netherlands, primary and secondary students can no longer bring smartphones, tablets or even smartwatches to school.

The ban was enacted for secondary school classrooms in January, and came into effect for the primary level in September.

In Greece, starting this month, students are required to keep their phones inside their bags during the entire school day.

In the UK, schools were given new guidance back in February to stop the use of cell phones during the school day to “minimize disruption and improve behavior in classrooms.”

In a statement at the time, the Department of Education said many schools had already banned phones and the change would ensure a consistent approach.

Spain banned phones in primary schools in January, and has now asked secondary schools to limit their use for educational purposes only.

In August, Finland’s National Agency for Education recommended restricting the use of phones in schools to just during break periods, while its Education Ministry is reportedly working on legislation for tighter curbs.

Ireland’s Education Minister Norma Foley also announced plans in August to bar mobile phones in all secondary schools, saying a wider ban was necessary to build on existing restrictions such as students being made to place phones in lockers for the day.

There are no official bans in Poland, Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, Portugal and Croatia, but schools have the choice to take individual measures, which many have done.

Similar steps have been taken to curb the use of phones in schools in countries such as Nigeria, Brazil, Cambodia, Egypt, South Korea, and New Zealand, according to Manos Antoninis, director of UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring Report.

- Should smartphones be banned?

Speaking to Anadolu, Antoninis said there has been a noticeable “surge of activities, initiatives, policies, and decisions to ban the use of mobile phones in schools in all over the world.”

“This reflects clearly a concern that exists among teachers, among parents, and as a result among policymakers, and there’s anxiety over how to address the challenges,” he said.

Peter Macaulay, a senior lecturer in psychology at the University of Derby, acknowledged the complexities of the debate over banning phones, but said he supports the idea.

“Limiting smartphone use in schools will reduce distractions, facilitating an environment to promote teaching and learning,” he told Anadolu.

He said children are more likely to engage with peers face-to-face, fostering stronger social skills and communication.

“The absence of smartphones in the classroom will help combat issues like cyberbullying, as children will have reduced accessibility to engage in or be victims of harmful online behavior,” he said.

While smartphones do have an array of positive recreational, educational, and social opportunities, limiting their use in schools “will contribute to improved academic performance and a positive school climate,” he reiterated.

Citing data for 2023, Antoninis said almost a quarter of all countries – 24% – had introduced some sort of policies or legislation on the issue by last year.

The debate over screens is not new and goes back decades, he said, like how people were worried about television and its impact on children’s development.

“The situation has now changed because with the technologies that we have, we can monitor much more accurately how much time children spend on screens,” he said.

- How will it impact students?

For both experts, the biggest issue with students having phones in school is distraction.

“The main issue, which is what teachers have also been pointing at, is that the presence of the phone is very distracting. Having been interrupted by a message may set you about 20 minutes back when you try to concentrate on your activity,” said Antoninis.

“If we think about it, learning is the most serious activity in which children are involved … Phones are not actually being used for learning, they’re not being used as a pedagogical tool in most cases, so then we have an issue.”

He said having phones could be very helpful in poorer countries, giving students access to otherwise costly textbooks and a wider range of learning materials.

In richer countries, though, there is no need to have a phone in the classroom, he said.

“It’s very rare that such a resource could be used for pedagogical purposes. Maybe an exception could be children or learners with disabilities, but for the vast majority of students, it’s not so,” Antoninis said.

“If we start having evidence that shows that the presence of a phone is distracting, then what’s the point of having them in classrooms?”

Macaulay said phones could have some benefits for children, such as giving them access to social media communities where they can connect with like-minded individuals or people who face the same challenges as them.

“However, what we know is that most of the time children using social media and smartphones is not for their benefit,” he said.

“Most of the time it involves a lot of social comparison, looking at other peoples’ lives, looking at other children’s lives, and comparing one’s own life with that of others. What this leads to, most of the time, is an increase in anxiety, an increase in depression, sometimes an increase in suicide ideation and thoughts.”

The excessive use of phones and screens harms children’s mental health, sleep and education, he said, while also warning of the alarming rise in online sexual abuse, exposure to harmful content, and bullying.

“I recommend stronger mobile phone restrictions in schools, better guidance for parents, and enhanced online safety regulations. I would also call for reforms on digital literacy, educational app standards, and the regulation of AI to safeguard children’s privacy and well-being,” he said.

Macaulay suggests that when a child is first allowed to use a smartphone, their screen time should be no more than around two hours a day.

“However, I think the key word here is regulation, and teaching children to self-regulate their use on smartphones,” he added.