France bans mobile phones for school kids aged 11-15, rolls out ‘digital pause’ scheme

Sept. 4, 2024, 12:57 p.m.

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This fall, thousands of French students are experiencing a unique return to school, one that involves leaving their mobile phones behind.

At 180 “colleges”, the middle schools French children attend between the ages of 11 and 15, a scheme is being trialled to ban the use of mobile phones during the entire school day.

The trial of the “pause numerique” (“digital pause”), which encompasses more than 50,000 pupils, is being implemented ahead of a possible plan to enforce it nationwide from 2025.

Advertisement Currently, students in French middle schools are required to switch off their phones. This experiment goes a step further, demanding that children surrender their phones upon arrival.

This initiative is part of President Emmanuel Macron's effort to encourage children to reduce their screen time, a practice the government believes is hindering their development.

The use of “a mobile phone or any other electronic communications terminal equipment” has been banned in nurseries, elementary schools and middle schools in France since 2018.

In high schools, which French children attend between the ages of 15 and 18, internal regulations may prohibit the use of a cell phone by pupils in “all or part of the premises.”

Bruno Bobkiewicz, general secretary of SNPDEN-Unsa, France’s top union of school principals, said the 2018 law had been enforced “pretty well overall”.

“The use of mobile phones in middle schools is very low today”, he said, adding that in case of a problem “we have the means to act”.

Improving ‘school climate’

The experiment comes after Macron said in January he wanted to “regulate the use of screens among young children.”

A report presented to Macron recommends that children under 11 should not be permitted to use phones, while social media access should be restricted for students under 15.

With a growing body of research highlighting the potential risks associated with excessive screen time for children, the concern has become a widespread issue across Europe.

Advertisement Sweden’s Public Health Agency said this week children under the age of two should be kept away from digital media and television completely and it should be limited for more senior ages.

One of Britain’s biggest mobile network operators, EE, has warned parents they should not give smartphones to children under the age of 11.

The French education ministry hopes that the cellphone-free environment would improve “school climate” and reduce instances of violence including online harassment and dissemination of violent images.

The ministry also wants to improve student performance because the use of telephones harms “the ability to concentrate” and “the acquisition of knowledge”.

Advertisement The experiment also aims to “raise pupils’ awareness of the rational use of digital tools”.

Jerome Fournier, national secretary of the SE-UNSA teachers’ union, said the experiment will seek “to respond to the difficulties of schools for which the current rule is not sufficient”, even if “in the vast majority of schools it works”.

‘Complicated to implement’

According to the education ministry, “it is up to each establishment to determine practical arrangements”, with the possibility of setting up a locker system.

Upon arrival, students will be required to submit their phones, which will be stored in designated boxes or lockers. They will retrieve their phones at the end of their classes. The ban applies to after-school activities and school outings as well.

However, implementing this policy in all schools in France starting January 2025 could come at a substantial cost.

According to local authorities, the measure could cost “nearly 130 million euros” for the 6,980 middle schools in France.

The loss of a phone from a locker would also create a significant financial burden.

Education Minister Nicole Belloubet said on Tuesday that the ban would be “put in place gradually”.

“The financial costs seem quite modest to me”, she added.

Many are sceptical.

For the leading middle and high school teachers’ union Snes-FSU, the ban raises too many questions.

“How will things work on arrival?” wondered the head of the union, Sophie Venetitay. “How will things work during the day,” she said, adding that some students have two mobile phones.

Advertisement The SE-UNSA teachers’ union also expressed reservations.

“We’re going to need staff to manage arrivals, drops-off and departures, and the collection of mobile phones,” said Fournier.

“Sometimes pupils just have time to put their things away when classes end, and run to the bus so as not to miss it”, he added.

Bobkiewicz of SNPDEN-Unsa, France’s top union of school principals, agreed.

He said he did not want to rummage through pupils’ bags to look for their phones.

“It’s going to be complicated to implement.”