France will ban mobile phones in secondary schools starting from the new academic year, President Emmanuel Macron announced on Monday.
Writing on X, Macron said the protection of children from the harmful effects of screens could no longer wait. He signed the measure into law based on a proposal from a government committee examining screen use among young people.
“A school free of phones means restoring the calm needed for learning,” Macron wrote.
France joins a growing number of countries tightening restrictions on mobile phone use in classrooms. New Zealand last month announced draft legislation that would ban children under 16 from social media entirely, while Australia passed a similar age-threshold law last year.
