According to a report by European News TV on August 24th, the French government has officially enacted a new law that prohibits high school students from using mobile phones at school starting this fall. French President Emmanuel Macron said that this measure will help restore a 'peaceful learning environment' in schools.
French government spokesman Mode Brejon said on the 24th: "The Constitutional Council has approved the law banning the use of mobile phones by high school students. Therefore, the president has decided to enact this law, which was previously vetoed, except for the provisions that were ruled unconstitutional. This will allow the recognized measures to be implemented within a stable legal framework. In short, the law banning the use of mobile phones by high school students will come into effect during the new school year."
Legislation allows exemptions for students who need to study certain courses during high school for educational purposes and those who require these courses to maintain the normal operation of schools. This includes, for example, students in preparatory classes preparing for the entrance exams to French “Grandes Écoles”.
In July, the French parliament passed laws aimed at protecting minors from risks associated with social networks. Mobile phones were prohibited for students in elementary and middle schools while at school. However, earlier this month, the French Constitutional Council overturned the core provisions of the law, no longer prohibiting children under 15 from using social networks.
Macron said that it is urgent to protect children from the negative effects of electronic screens. "Schools without mobile phones mean returning to a peaceful learning environment."
The French President's office revealed that Emmanuel Macron has not given up the plan to impose a social network ban, and the government will begin drafting a new law. Breguet said that Macron has instructed French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault to develop a new version of the legal draft. "The president's goal is to establish a stable legal framework by the spring of next year, in order to protect French teenagers and children."
Macron's presidential term will end in May 2027. According to French constitutional law, the presidency is a five-year position, with the possibility of re-election once.
However, AFP noted that French schools will start the new term next week. To enforce the mobile phone ban, schools will need to modify their internal rules and regulations. Since many schools do not have enough time to prepare, Macron’s ban may be difficult to implement fully.
The president of France’s largest principals union, SNPDEN-Unsa, François Renard, criticized that the timing of the new law is “poor.” “Schools are not yet prepared to implement a regulation that is not written in their internal rules and regulations at the beginning of the new school year. Perhaps only a few schools that have anticipated this situation will be able to do so, but such examples are likely to be very rare.”
SNPDEN-Unsa's Deputy Secretary General, Kristel Koffmann, is one of the school leaders who was anticipating this ban. Her high school has a policy to prohibit cell phone use in classrooms and hallways but allow for outdoor usage. Koffmann expects that it will be difficult to enforce the new rules, and it may take at least a year for the ban to be fully implemented across all French high schools.
French Occitanie Regional Council Vice Chairman Kamel Chibli stated that additional financial investments are needed to implement the mobile phone ban in primary and secondary schools. He pointed out that for a French high school with 1,500 students, the cost of storage bags and lockers for storing mobile phones could amount to 40,000 euros.
