French primary and secondary school students will no longer be allowed to use their phones in class, or during breaks and lunch. The French education minister says the ban is necessary because "These days the children don't play at break time anymore, they are just all in front of their smartphones and from an educational point of view that's a problem."
From The Telegraph:
Peep, one of France's biggest parents' associations, has already expressed scepticism. "We don't think it's possible at the moment," said its head, Gerard Pommier.
"Imagine a secondary school with 600 pupils. Are they going to put all their phones in a box? How do you store them? And give them back at the end?," he asked.
"One must live with the times. It would be more intelligent to pose rules and discuss their meaning with pupils," said Peep, pointing out that "adults themselves are not always exemplary with mobiles".
But for the education minister the issue of mobile phones and tablets is a matter of "public health". "It's important that children under the age of seven are not in front of these screens," he added.
