Back to school 2024: ban on mobile phones in schools from January 2025, who is affected ?

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Nicole Belloubet, the resigning Minister of National Education, announced at her back-to-school press conference a measure that will certainly get people talking: the introduction of a “digital break” in schools and colleges across France. More specifically, she wants to ban mobile phones in schools.

This initiative, which aims to reduce young people's exposure to screens during school hours, did not come out of nowhere. It follows an expert report on the impact of screens on young people, commissioned by President Emmanuel Macron and submitted on April 30. The conclusions of this report clearly weighed heavily in the balance, pushing the ministry to take concrete action.

From January 2025 for all middle and primary school students

The experiment will begin from the start of the 2024 school year in nearly 200 middle schools. If all goes as planned, the measure will be generalized to all establishments from January 2025. In concrete terms, students will have to leave their smartphone in a locker when they arrive at school. An approach that goes further than the regulations current, which simply prohibits the use of telephones within the premises of establishments.

This decision obviously raises questions. How will students react to this temporary deprivation of their precious device ? Will all parents agree with this measure ? And what about emergency situations where a student needs to contact their family ?

Nicole Belloubet was keen to point out that this was not about “refuting the educational use of digital technology”. On the contrary, the minister spoke of the importance of artificial intelligence in education, calling for the creation of a specific roadmap for its use in schools and colleges. “Teachers must be allowed to use artificial intelligence”, she said, thus opening the door to new teaching methods.

The implementation of this digital break also raises practical questions. How will schools logistically manage the deposit and collection of hundreds of phones every day? What will the sanctions be for students who do not respect the rule? These aspects will need to be clarified before the measure is generalized. The test phase in the 200 pilot schools should make it possible to adjust these details.

This French initiative is part of a broader movement of reflection on the place of digital technology in education. Many countries have already implemented similar restrictions, with varying results. Some studies have shown an improvement in concentration and social interactions among students, while others have highlighted the difficulties of implementation and the dissatisfaction of some parents.

• The Minister of Education has announced a ban on mobile phones in primary and secondary schools from 2025
• The experiment will begin in 200 secondary schools at the start of the 2024 school year, with generalization planned for January 2025.
• Despite this restriction, the ministry encourages the educational use of digital, including artificial intelligence.

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