Breaking News English

France has voted to [bin / ban] smartphones and personal tablets from schools. Lawmakers voted [overwhelming / overwhelmingly] by 62-1 on Monday to prohibit students aged between 3 and 15 from even [brought / bringing] their devices to school. The ban is [part / party] of a campaign to reduce [addiction / addicted] to electronics. It fulfills a campaign promise [made / done] by French President Emmanuel Macron in 2017. French Minister of National Education Jean-Michel Blanquer also campaigned [from / for] the ban saying they were [harmful / harm] to children's development. He called mobile devices a public health crisis and said the law [protecting / protects] children from the "phenomenon of screen addiction and the phenomenon of bad mobile phone [use / used] ."

The new ban [extension / extended] a previous law made in 2010 that meant students could not use their devices [on / in] lessons. There are exceptions to the ban for students with [disability / disabilities] and for using devices in the classroom for extra-curricular [activity / activities] . Many lawmakers do not [belief / believe] the ban is enough to bring about change. They believe the ban is [little / small] more than a publicity stunt. Application of the ban to students aged 15 and [older / olden] will depend on the policy of individual schools. Experts have found that the [increase / increased] use of mobile devices causes cyber-addiction, sleep disruption and [bully / bullying] . Opponents of the ban say it is a backward step and will not [lead / leading] to an increase in learning.