Do smartphones make children dumb? Countries that ban devices for college kids

Saudi Arabia: In 2021, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Education has banned college students from utilizing cell phones in faculties. The ministry, nonetheless, mentioned faculty directors have the correct to permit college students to carry cell phones out of necessity, offered it’s saved with the administration.

South Korea: The Asian nation, residence of electronics giants Samsung and LG, legislature handed a nationwide regulation in 2025 banning cell phone use at school lecture rooms. This is a complete nationwide ban aimed toward addressing heavy social media use’s influence on younger folks, Reuters reported.​

Brazil: The South American nation enacted a federal regulation in January 2025 that limits smartphone use for college kids aged 4 to 17 in faculties nationwide, prohibiting telephones in lecture rooms and hallways except used for instructional or health-related functions.​

France: The European nation banned telephone use for college kids below 15 in center faculties (collèges) in 2018. Starting January 2025, it carried out a nationwide ban on cell phones in major and secondary faculties as much as age 15, after a profitable trial of stricter “digital breaks” in center faculties.

The 2018 ban requires telephones to be turned off and saved in baggage in the course of the faculty day, whereas the newer initiative goals to create an “enforced digital pause” by making college students hand of their telephones upon arrival.

Pakistan: Pakistan’s Punjab province has accredited a decision to ban cell phones in private and non-private faculties and schools. The Punjab Higher Education Department (HED) acknowledged that the transfer goals to fight digital distractions and destructive impacts on scholar well-being, in accordance with a LinkedIn publish. HED notified all schools expressing issues over the disruptive influence of cell phones, significantly the frequent use of social media by college students throughout lectures and the impact of lecturers’ telephone use on the classroom ambiance.

Additional nations with bans or restrictions embody:

China: Requiring written parental consent for varsity telephone use.

Italy: Expanding telephone bans to all instructional establishments from 2024.

Sweden: Announced a nationwide ban in all faculties efficient autumn 2026):

These measures replicate a rising pattern globally to limit cell phone use amongst teenagers in instructional settings to advertise higher focus and well-being, in accordance with Unesco.​

The recommended that with growing display screen time amongst teenagers, understanding the breadth of display screen use’s influence on well being is essential.

The findings by Zablotsky et all spotlight that greater non-school display screen time is linked to adversarial well being and “psychosocial” outcomes reported straight by teenagers.

Public well being efforts could deal with moderating leisure display screen use, selling bodily exercise, wholesome sleep, and social assist amongst youngsters.