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France bans use of phones by school children


French school children will starting this month not be allowed to use phones during the day.

This is after the country’s parliament passed a law that required every school going child to leave their phone at home when school resume after the summer break.

School children were in the past using their phones during breaks and mealtime a practice the lawmakers said “made children too distracted and dependent on their phones.”

“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.

UNSOCIAL CHILDREN

Several researches have in the past linked early exposure to phones to unsocial children who lack basic life skills of starting and engaging in one-on-one conversations.

A recent poll conducted in the UK found that almost six in 10 (59 per cent) of UK parents think students should not be allowed to carry their mobiles around the school grounds.

However, of the 2,022 parents surveyed by Internet Matters, 27 per cent said phones should be permitted during break time, while 34 per cent said they should be permitted during lunchtime.