France with tough measures about using mobile phones in high schools

The education minister told the Senate that she wanted the children to be fully separated from their phones all day of school in all French high schools from September, foreign media write, Telegrafi conveys.

Élisabeth Borne said: “at a time when their use is being widely questioned because of its many harmful effects, this measure is essential to the welfare and success of our children at school”.

In 2018, France banned children from using mobile phones in all high schools known as colleges.

This means that phones should be put off in school bags and cannot be used anywhere in school facilities, including rest time.

Schools have reported a positive effect, with more social interaction, more exercise, less harassment and better concentration.

But some reported that some children would sneak into toilets to watch video on the phone during the holidays.

Now the government says it needs to go further, fully separating children from their equipment for the entire school day.

This mandatory “digital display” as the French government calls it, has been tested in a pilot scheme in about 100 high schools for the past six months, with children dropping their phones after the arrival of a cabinet or box, or in a separate bag that can only be opened by an electronic system at the school gates as they go home.