France grapples with whether to ban cellphones in schools

Students could soon be banned from using cellphones in French schools, in a move the government says is necessary to protect public health amid fears over the devices' long-term effects on mental development.

Under current French law, students cannot use their phones in class but schools have the power to decide if they can use them at break times.

But that may change in September, as the Ministry of Education examines how to implement a campaign pledge by President Emmanuel Macron to ban cellphones from school premises entirely.

The minister, Jean-Michel Blanquer, said the measure would help tackle what he called a “public health problem."

Image: Schoolchildren in a class.
Schoolchildren listen to a teacher as they study during a class in a primary school in Marseille, France. Jean-Paul Pelissier / Reuters file
‘No abuse is tolerated’
Jerome, a middle school teacher in France's southwest Occitanie region, said a near-complete ban on cellphones was already in place for the 11- to 15-year-old students at his school. He spoke to NBC News on condition that only his first name be used because of French rules that restrict teachers from speaking to the media.

Children are allowed to bring electronic devices to school but they must be on "airplane mode" and confined to their bags, he said. Any transgression leads to the device’s confiscation, so there are few rule breakers.

“We trust them, but no abuse is tolerated,” Jerome explained. “And they respect the rule without grumbling.”

He said that he knows another school that allows students to use their phones at recess, but sometimes fights break out after things are posted on social media.

“Contrary to our students who play, run and have fun at recess, students there appear much calmer, but they are just glued to their phones,” he said.