In July of 2018, the French government passed a law banning cell phones in schools. The policy came into effect during the beginning of the 2018-2019 school year and impacts students in kindergarten through the 9th grade.
The ban on smartphones as well as other kinds of internet-connected devices, such as tablets, applies to schoolchildren between 3 and 15 years of age. However, French high schools, or lycées, with students 15 and older, will get to choose whether to adopt the phone ban for their pupils.
“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,” said Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer on French news channel BFMTV.
Some schools across the U.S. are enacting similar policies as a way to decrease distractions for students.
The increasing dependence on smartphones has given rise to the term “nomophobia,” or “NO MObile PHOne phoBIA” — the fear of not being able to use your cell phone or other smart device. As rates of smartphone and Internet addiction rise, so do the adverse effects of these activities on our brains. A study from South Korea conducted on teenagers with Internet and smartphone addiction found that their brains produced higher levels of a neurotramsmitter, which slows down neurons. The result is reduced levels of control and attention, rendering people more susceptible to distractions.
Another study by the London School of Economics and Political Science showed that banning smartphones in schools resulted in an improvement in students’ test scores.
By: Maytinee Kramer
