France has voted to ban smartphones and personal tablets from schools. Lawmakers voted overwhelmingly by 62-1 on Monday to prohibit students aged between 3 and 15 from even bringing their devices to school. ban is part of campaign to reduce addiction to electronics. It fulfills campaign promise made by French President Emmanuel Macron in 2017. French Minister of National Education Jean-Michel Blanquer also campaigned for ban saying devices were harmful to children's development. He called mobile devices public health crisis and said law protects children from "phenomenon of screen addiction and phenomenon of bad mobile phone use."
new ban extends previous law made in 2010 that meant students could not use their devices in lessons. There are exceptions to ban for students with disabilities and for using devices in classroom for extra-curricular activities. Many lawmakers do not believe ban is enough to bring about change. They believe the ban is little more than publicity stunt. Application of ban to students aged 15 and older will depend on policy of individual schools. Experts have found that increased use of mobile devices causes cyber-addiction, sleep disruption and bullying. Opponents of ban say it is backward step and will not lead to increase in learning
