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France To Ban Mobile Phones In Schools (theguardian.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the cease-and-desist dept.

The French government is planning to ban students from using mobile phones in the country's primary, junior and middle schools. While children will be permitted to bring their phones to school, they will not be allowed to get them out at any time until they leave, even during breaks. The Guardian reports: Jean-Michel Blanquer, the French education minister, said the measure would come into effect from the start of the next school year in September 2018. It will apply to all pupils from the time they start school at age of six -- up to about 15 when they start secondary school. Blanquer said some education establishments already prohibited pupils from using their mobiles. "Sometimes you need a mobile for teaching reasons [...] for urgent situations, but their use has to be somehow controlled," he told RTL radio. The minister said the ban was also a "public health message to families," adding: "It's good that children are not too often, or even at all, in front of a screen before the age of seven." The French headteachers' union was skeptical that the ban could be enforced.

4 of 191 comments (clear)

  1. Why were they ever allowed? by evanh · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Right from the start, I was completely surprised that any school anywhere has ever allow them.

    1. Re:Why were they ever allowed? by geekmux · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Right from the start, I was completely surprised that any school anywhere has ever allow them.

      "I need to be able to reach my child in an emergency!"

      "My child is special. He/She must be permitted to carry their cell phone."

      The blame lies more with smartphone-addicted parents than the school. And schools often succumb to what parents want, not common sense. In reality, the parents are doing nothing more than creating pathetic excuses to justify paying for a smartphone for their 8-year BFF (a.k.a. their child)

      We're also dealing with parents who treat smartphones like it's their left arm, so no surprise their kids consider a smartphone and social media access as vital as breathing.

    2. Re:Why were they ever allowed? by pots · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I don't follow. "Both ways"? The idea is that phones are banned because they're disruptive, but allowed in certain tightly controlled situations when they are important for a lesson. Both ways of what?

  2. Educational purpose? by sjbe · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "I need to be able to reach my child in an emergency!"

    That's why they have an administrative office. You call there and they go contact your child if necessary. Worked just fine for 100 years. There is no educational value in allowing access to cell phones of any sort during the day. If there is an odd circumstance where a child really does need to carry their phone during class hours due to some special circumstance then the parent can arrange that through the school administration on a short term basis.

    The blame lies more with smartphone-addicted parents than the school.

    There is Truth in this. The basic question to ask is "what educational purpose is being fulfilled by allowing access to smartphones during school hours?" If there isn't one then there is no reason to allow them.