Banning smartphones at school: it doesn't work ?

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A few months ago, we wondered whether or not France should follow the same path as England and ban mobile phones from middle school premises ? At the time, Nicole Belloubet, then Minister of National Education, indicated that “theimpact [of] social media for young people was absolutely catastrophic”, adding that a digital break could also be a good lever to combat cyberbullying.

The “digital break” not enough to boost students' health ?

This same digital break was tested in 200 establishments at the start of the 2024 school year, and provides for students to drop off their smartphones at the school entrance and pick them up at the end of the day. At that time, the government was working on a possible ban on smartphones in middle schools at the start of the 2025 school year. But can banning smartphones alone be enough to improve grades and student behavior ? A priori no…

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This is indeed what emerges from a study conducted by the University of Birmingham, comparing the results and behaviors of more than 1,200 students spread across 30 establishments in the United Kingdom. According to this study, it would not be possible to claim that restrictions on smartphone use alone have any beneficial effect on the mental health and well-being of adolescents“.

More generally, it is the total time spent on smartphones and social networks that would have a negative impact on the good health (mental and physical) of students. Sleep would be of poorer quality, behavior would be more and more problematic, results less and less satisfactory, the lack of exercise more and more important…

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Thus, the study tends to demonstrate that “these bans taken in isolation are not enough to tackle the negative impacts“. At the end of last year, we looked back at the average time spent each day in front of a screen, with an edifying average of 6h30 (and 5h26 for France).

For the Ministry of Education, the digital break is a measure that aims to “to raise awareness among students about the rational use of digital tools and to allow them to fully benefit from the richness of collective life“. Recently, a new barometer from the Fondation pour l'Enfance confirms the “negative effects” of screens on children, with 89% of teachers surveyed observing an increase in learning difficulties (language, graphics, motor skills, etc.), not to mention a real impact (again) on sleep.

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