France high school phone ban to start despite union doubts

France will put a mobile phone ban for high schools into effect from the start of the September school year, government spokesperson Maud Bregeon said on August 24, despite warnings from school leaders that many schools may not be ready.

Parliament approved legislation in July that included the high school phone ban and a separate ban on social media access for children under 15. The Constitutional Council struck down the social media provision earlier this month but did not rule on the high school phone measure.

Bregeon said President Emmanuel Macron had decided to promulgate the law despite the court's rejection of the social media provision. She said this allowed the phone ban to take effect with a stable statutory legal framework.

France already bars children from using mobile phones in primary schools and colleges, which are attended between ages 11 and 15.

To enforce the new high school ban, schools must amend their internal regulations. Francois Resnais, national secretary of the SNPDEN-Unsa school principals' union, criticised the timing and said schools were not ready.

Christelle Kauffmann, the union's deputy secretary-general, said her high school would ban phones in corridors and school buildings from the start of term but allow them outdoors. She said it could take nearly a year before the ban is fully implemented across all high schools.

Kamel Chibli, vice president of the Occitanie regional council, said digital pouches and lockers used to store smartphones cost regional authorities about 40,000 euros for a high school with 1,500 students.

The education ministry's guidance allows exemptions for educational uses or for purposes needed for the proper functioning of a school.

Macron's office has said he still wants restrictions on apps such as TikTok for children, and Bregeon said the government would work on a new draft law. She said Macron wants a stable legal framework by next spring. Macron is due to step down then after serving the maximum two consecutive terms allowed in office.