Brazil limits smartphone use in schools

Brazil limits smartphone use in schools

The Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed a law on Monday that the use of smartphones restricted in schools. Brazil thus follows a global trend that promotes such restrictions. From February, this regulation will affect the pupils at primary and secondary schools in the South American country and determines a legal framework that provides that smartphones may only be used in emergencies, for educational purposes or to support students with disabilities.

positive feedback from parents and teachers

The Minister of Education Camilo Santana commented in the capital Brasília and explained that children go online earlier and earlier, which makes it difficult for parents to keep an overview of their activities. The restriction of smartphone use in schools is intended to help improve the situation.

"We want these devices to be used for pedagogical purposes and under the guidance of a teacher, as in many other countries," said Santana.

broad support for the law

The law found rare support across the entire political spectrum, both by the allies of the left -wing Lula and his right -wing populist adversary, the former President Jair Bolsonaro. Many parents and students also supported the measure. A Datafolha survey from October showed that almost two thirds of the respondents want to ban the use of smartphones by children and adolescents in schools. More than three quarters of the participants believed that these devices harm more than benefit their children.

experiences from practice

"(the restriction of cell phones) is hard but necessary. It is useful to search for information for school, but social use is not good," said Ricardo Martins Ramos, 43, father of two girls and owners of a Hamburg restaurant in Rio de Janeiro. "The children will interact more."

His 13-year-old daughter Isabela reported that her classmates had difficulty concentrating on their tasks during the lesson because they were constantly distracted with their smartphones. It supported the law, but does not see the sole solution for all challenges in the field of education.

"If the teacher allows you to use the cell phone, it is usually because he wants you to look for information," she said. "There are still many things that schools cannot solve, such as bullying and harassment."

regional differences in Brazil

In 2023, about two thirds of the Brazilian schools had already issued some restrictions on the use of cell phones, while 28 % of these devices fully banned, as a survey by the Brazilian Internet Control Committee showed in August. Local laws have already been adopted in the states of Rio de Janeiro, Maranhão and Goiás to ban such devices in schools. Nevertheless, the authorities have difficulty enforcing these laws.

discussions about bans in São Paulo

The authorities in São Paulo, the most populous state of Brazil, are currently discussing whether smartphones should be banned in both public and private schools. Gabriele Alexandra Henriques Pinheiro, 25, who works in a beauty salon and is the mother of an autistic boy, also supports the restrictions. However, she notes that adults often represent a bad example of dealing with smartphones for children.

"It's difficult," she said. "I try to limit the time my son spends in front of some screen, but whenever I have to do something, I have to use the smartphone to create everything."

global trends and studies

For many years, the use of smartphones by children with bullying, suicidal thoughts, anxiety and a loss of concentration that are necessary for learning has been associated. Last year China took measures to limit the use of smartphones by children, while France has already introduced a ban on cell phones in schools aged six to 15.

Cell phone bans also gain in importance in the United States where eight states have passed laws or guidelines that restrict cell phone use in order to reduce access to the devices and minimize distractions in class. A growing number of parents in Europe says that the use of smartphones in small children endanger their security and mental health.

A report published by UNESCO in September, the United Nations organization of the United Nations for Education, Science and Culture, found that a quarter of the countries have already restricted the use of such devices in schools. Last year, the CEO of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, apologized to the parents of children who are exploited, bullied or driven to self-harm via social media. He also referred to the continued investments of META in industry -wide efforts to protect children.