To protect children from screens, some schools will simply ban smartphones on their premises. And cities are starting to do the same in public places and for everyone!
With the advent of digital technology, children are increasingly exposed to screens, and earlier and earlier. According to the Express VPN study, barely out of early childhood, the youngest are already exposed to screens, with 40% of 4-year-olds already having their own tablet, computer or smartphone. And this does not improve with adolescence, where 95% of 14 year olds have a phone. Enough to fully open the way to numerous online activities, social networks… and all the abuses that result from them.
To the point of arousing the concern of parents, teachers and many organizations, who are pleading for supervision of their use, in particular for smartphones. Addiction, violent or inappropriate content, sexual predators… The dangers are numerous! Emmanuel Macron himself raised the possibility of imposing restrictions or even bans on access to screens for the youngest. The problem has recently come to the forefront in schools where, in addition to the distraction that the device causes and its impact on students’ concentration and learning, several tragic cases have demonstrated their role, sometimes fatal, in cases of cyberharassment.
A situation which leads certain governments to take radical decisions. Because France is obviously not the only country affected by this phenomenon. Also in the United Kingdom, a significant proportion of young people own a smartphone, with 53% of young people aged 8-11, a figure which rises to 96% for those aged 12-15. Even little ones are affected, since, between 5 and 7 years old, 20% already have one. Also, the British government plans to send directives to school leaders to reaffirm its desire to ban students from using their devices. “When you go to school, you’re going to learn, you’re going to bond, you’re going to talk to people, you’re going to socialize, you’re going to get educated. You’re not going to sit with your cell phone or text when you could be talking to someone A”, explains Education Secretary Gillian Keegan. Thus, school principals are free to purely and simply ban devices within the school grounds, to establish a deposit system in lockers, or quite simply to allow students to keep their devices on them. , but without having the right to use it.
In France, smartphones are in theory banned within high schools and colleges. The law allows the high school board of directors to introduce, into the internal regulations, a ban on the use of these devices by high school students. This ban is valid during school time, but also extracurricular time. It is up to each establishment to determine practical arrangements to ensure compliance with the law.
But some go even further. In Seine-et-Marne, the residents of the town of Seine-Port voted for the “communal charter for the proper use of screens”, which quite simply prohibits, for absolutely all residents, from using their smartphone in front of schools, in stores, while walking in the street, or when there are several of them in a public or associative space. The charter also encourages parents to ban screens within the home. A project which is far from unanimous since, of the 1530 voters in the commune, only 272 came, and the “yes” won by only 54%. That being said, the judgment has no legal value, and there is no sanction planned for those who do not respect it. Above all, it is a means of highlighting a phenomenon and encouraging a collective movement. But, in any case, it is indeed a real problem that deserves to be discussed.