Phone bans in schools are spreading worldwide as the policy debate rages on

Several countries have introduced new national bans since late 2025, continuing the upward trend. Recent additions include Bolivia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Georgia, Maldives and Malta.

France is one of the countries where the debate continues to evolve. It introduced one of the most widely cited early bans on mobile phones in schools, prohibiting their use in primary and lower secondary education. Now policymakers are examining whether further regulation is needed. A legislative proposal currently under consideration in the French parliament aims to establish more specific rules governing smartphone use in schools, reflecting growing concern about the broader digital environment facing young people.

In many cases, bans apply during the school day or inside classrooms, with some systems allowing phones only for educational purposes, specific groups of pupils (such as those with disabilities or illness), or requiring them to be switched off and stored away.

At the same time, not all governments are opting for outright bans. Some countries have recently adopted national regulations requiring schools to develop policies restricting phone use, without imposing a strict nationwide prohibition. Comoros, Colombia, Estonia, Lithuania, Iceland, Peru, Indonesia, Serbia, Poland and the Philippines are among those.

This approach reflects a shift toward delegating responsibility to schools and school leaders while still acknowledging the need to control phone use.

The United Kingdom also illustrates this model. In England, the government has issued strengthened guidance encouraging schools to prohibit mobile phones during the school day . The expectation is reinforced through school inspection frameworks, yet the policy leaves implementation decisions to individual schools. However, a proposed ban on social media for the under 16s has been rejected by the parliament some days ago.