French government to ban mobile phones in schools

School children in France will not be allowed to use their mobile phones at any point while in school following a controversial announcement by the Education Minister, Jean-Michel Blanquer.

The ban, which was part of French President Emmanuel Macron’s presidential election campaign, is set to come into effect in September of next year, and would bar students from using their phones even during breaks.

Mobile phones are already banned from classrooms in France, but the new ban would prohibit school children from using their mobile phones outside of class as well. They would still be allowed to bring their phones to school.

Blanquer said that the new rule is a “public health message” of sorts, and that the ban aims to tackle the problem of children spending too much time on their smartphones, as opposed to playing during breaks.

The French headteachers’ union have expressed scepticism about how the new ban is expected to be enforced, but Blanquer had previously mentioned that schools could provide lockers for students to store their phones in.