Mobile Phone Bans in Schools
In recent years, European countries have been widely implementing regulations and bans on the use of cell phones and other digital screens in schools. While enthusiasm for digital technologies in the classroom once prevailed, a significant shift has occurred in some countries—driven primarily by growing scientific evidence that supports real-world experiences from schools regarding the negative impacts of digital addiction on children’s brains and mental health. Excessive screen use leads to a significant decline in attention, a drop in academic performance, an increase in cyberbullying, and the development of anxiety. The overuse of digital technologies is also linked to social isolation and a decline in face-to-face interactions. These factors are leading countries to take a decisive step: to restore an environment in schools free from constant digital distractions, to protect attention, and to enable the development of cognitive skills.
An up-to-date overview of specific measures across Europe has been prepared by Life Resonance z.s. Last updated: 27 April 2026
- All
- 2006
- 2007
- 2018
- 2023
- 2024
- 2025
- 2026
- Ban in preschools
- Ban in primary schools
- Ban in secondary schools
- Full-day ban
- Lessons-time ban
- No national ban
- Planned ban
- Tiered ban
Austria 🇦🇹
Rule: Federal regulation, effective since May 1, 2025, prohibit students in grades 1–8 from using cell phones, smartwatches, and similar devices during school days, school events and lessons outside of school. Devices must be turned off if not otherwise specified.
Exceptions: Use is permitted only for education, care purposes, medical reasons, or if school policy set different rules.
Sanctions: Devices must be surrendered and are returned at the end of the school day or given to the parents.
Austria announced in March 2026 plans to ban social media for children under 14.
Belgium 🇧🇪
From 2025, Belgium’s three language communities — French, Flemish, German-speaking — have banned the private use of mobile phones during school hours—both in lessons and during breaks—in nearly all compulsory education institutions including preschools.
Exceptions: Use is permitted only for education, medical reasons, or reasonable measures for students with special educational needs.
Bulgaria 🇧🇬
Rule: Since 2016, lessons have been mobile phone-free; from January 2026, this extends to a near-total ban on all mobile and smart devices throughout the entire school day including breaks for primary and secondary education.
Exceptions: Use is permitted only for educational, health, or emergency purposes.
Croatia 🇭🇷
Rule: A 2026 nationwide ban prohibits mobile phones use during the school day in primary schools; devices must be turned off and stored in bags or lockers all day (including breaks and lunch). Secondary schools retain existing bans on unauthorized device use specifically during class hours. (A nationwide regulation was proposed by MP Ivana Kekin in 2025.)
Exceptions: Use is permitted only for educational, health, or other approved purposes with explicit school permission.
Sanctions: Determined by each school’s internal regulations.
Czech Republic 🇨🇿
Rule: Individual schools decide their own policies, ranging from no restrictions to full-day bans. The Czech School Inspectorate recommends to schools to ban the use of mobile phones or to limit their use only to educational purposes.
Exceptions and sanctions: Determined by each school’s internal regulations.
Cyprus 🇨🇾
Rule: On October 29, 2024, a full-day ban on the use of mobile phones and smart electronic devices (e.g., smartwatches, tablets with internet access) was imposed in public secondary schools.
Exceptions: Permitted use only under teacher supervision for educational purposes, or in cases of emergency related to safety or health.
Sanctions: The teacher seize the device, ensures it is turned off, hands it over to the school secretariat, and returns it to the student at the end of the school day. Violations also trigger “pedagogical measures” as provided for in the regulations.
Denmark 🇩🇰
Rule: On September 30, 2025, a parliamentary majority approved the recommendations of The Commission on Well-Being for Mobile Phone Free Primary Schools and After-School Programs. Legislation for the 2026–2027 school year will require local boards to ensure schools and after-school facilities are mobile phone free during school hours.
Exceptions: Use is permitted only for medical reasons, disability needs, or educational use.
Estonia 🇪🇪
Rule: Under internal regulations, schools define their own policies, ranging from classroom-only restrictions to full-day bans. While schools may prohibit the use of phones during lessons without permission, or ban devices on desks or during exams, schools cannot mandate that all students surrender their devices, even if rule violations occur.
Exceptions and sanctions: Determined by each school’s internal regulations.
Note: Asso et al. (2026) suggest a balanced approach for the Estonian school environment.
Finland 🇫🇮
Rule: Statutory nationwide ban, effective August 2025, prohibits phones, tablets, laptops, and smartwatches during lessons for grades 1–9. Schools may extend these rules to breaks or the full day and requiring phones to be stored away during breaks. In 2026, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare issued new national digital guidelines advising against smartphones for children under 13 and recommending limited screen time.
Exceptions: Use is only permitted for educational purposes with the teacher’s permission or for medical reasons.
Sanctions: Teachers and principals may seize devices that disrupt learning.
France 🇫🇷
Rule: A 2018 law bans phones, tablets, and smartwatches in preschools, primary and secondary schools, even during breaks. Since 2025, students under 15 nationwide must store devices in lockers under the “Digital Pause” initiative. While high schools retain autonomy, most also restrict phone use. In 2026, France proposed a law banning social media for children under 15, and at the same time, a stricter ban of mobile phones in upper secondary schools is under negotiation.
Exceptions: Use is permitted only for students with a disability or a chronic medical condition who need to use the connected device for health reasons.
Sanction: School staff may seize unauthorised devices, as the school rules enforce mandatory surrender.
Germany 🇩🇪
Since education is governed by the federal states, regulations vary significantly across Germany.
Unlike German federal states with immediate bans, Baden-Württemberg requires schools to set their own mobile device rules by the 2026/27 school year via a 2025 law amendment (§ 23, paragraph 2b), avoiding a uniform statewide ban. Concurrently, the state introduces «Informatics and Media Education» starting in grade 5 to boost media literacy.
Bavaria introduced the blanket ban on private mobile use in schools in 2006, which was relaxed in 2022. For the 2025/2026 school year, a full-day ban returns for students up to grade 7. Devices must be turned off including breaks. Use is allowed only for medical reasons or educational use with permission. Teachers can seize devices, returning them at day’s end. From grade 8, schools set their own rules.
Effective the 2025/26 school year, Brandenburg mandates that private smartphones, smartwatches, and tablets be switched off and stored out of reach (e.g., in lockers, cupboards) for grades 1 – 6 in primary and special needs schools. In exceptional cases, such as medical necessity, teachers may permit use. Based on revised administrative regulations (VV-Schulbetrieb, Art. 12), stricter school-level rules remain valid, while the coalition agreement prioritizes analog media for grades 1 – 4.
Effective the 2025/2026 school year, Bremen’s Decree No. 001/2025 bans private smartphones, smartwatches, and mobile devices in primary and secondary level I schools. Devices must be switched off and stored out of sight (e.g., in bags or «phone garages») on school premises. Exceptions apply for medical or emergency needs. The mobile phone may be temporarily seized, usually until the end of the school day. Secondary level II, adult education, vocational schools set their own rules.
School Act Amendment of Hesse designated all public school buildings and grounds as smartphone-free zones, banning private phones, tablets, and smartwatches during school days in 2025. Primary schools enforce a total ban, with exceptions only for emergencies, medical needs, or approved lessons. Secondary schools may permit limited exceptions in designated areas for older students. Teachers can seize devices, returning them at day’s end.
North Rhine-Westphalia is not imposing a statewide ban, but is rather strongly recommending that schools implement their own rules regarding the use of electronic devices.
Saxony introduced a full-day school ban in State regulation SächsGVBl. p. 434, prohibiting the use of smartphones, including tablets and smartwatches in primary schools up to grade 8, effective February 21, 2026. Use is permitted only for students with a disability, a chronic illness or in individual cases approved by the teacher.
Saarland is presently implementing bans targeting specifically the usage of mobile phones in primary schools.
Schleswig – Holstein tightened regulations via a decree dated June 19, 2025. For grades 1 – 9, the use of digital devices outside of class is now strictly excluded, permitted only during lessons and school events for educational or emergency purposes. A more flexible approach is permitted for students in grade 10 and above, while schools may still adopt stricter rules in their bylaws for lower grades. This replaces previous ecommendations from 2023 with binding requirements.
Thuringia enacted a statewide ban in 2024. It prohibits use of personal cell phones, smartwatches, and tablets in primary schools, as well as in community and special education schools for grades 1-4 during lessons and breaks. Exceptions apply only for educational use. Disruptive devices may be seized, with the principal deciding on their return.
Berlin, Hamburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Saxony-Anhalt have decided not to implement regulations at the state level and have leave the decision entirely up to individual schools to set their own rules regarding the use of private digital devices.
Greece 🇬🇷
Rules: Greece implemented a nation-wide ban effective September 11, 2024, prohibiting students in primary and secondary schools from using mobile phones, tablets, smartwatches, and other electronic devices. If students bring devices to school, they must keep them in their bags throughout the entire school day. Ban primarily aims to combat cyberbullying and minimize disruptions.
Exceptions: Use is permitted for medical reasons.
Sanctions: Policy violations result in immediate one-day suspensions, with harsher penalties for repeat offenders.
During the first three months of the 2024 school year, a total of 10,700 students were suspended for violating rules prohibiting the use of mobile phones in Greek schools.
Greece will ban access to social media for children under the age of 15 from January 1, 2027 due to rising anxiety, sleep problems and the addictive design of online platforms.
Greece will ban access to social media for children under the age of 15 from January 1, 2027 due to rising anxiety, sleep problems and the addictive design of online platforms.
Hungary 🇭🇺
Rule: Government Decree 245/2024, effective September 1, 2024, restricts the use of telecommunication devices, recording equipment, and internet-capable smart devices during school hours in elementary schools (grades 1–8), middle schools (grades 5–12), and vocational schools (grades 9–13). The devices must be surrendered at the start of the school day and stored in designated closed areas until the end of the school day. Teachers are also banned from personal phone use.
Exceptions: Students may use devices only for teacher-approved educational activities or principal-approved medical needs with documentation. Teachers are restricted to educational or emergency use only.
Sanctions: Teachers may seize prohibited devices and return them to students (if 18+), parents according to institutional procedures.
Ireland 🇮🇪
The Department of Education and Youth mandates that all primary and post-primary schools ban personal mobile phone use throughout the school day, including breaks and lunch, starting in 2025. The government allocated €9 million for secure phone storages, mainly for post-primary schools.
Exceptions: Each school decides its own rules with input from the community.
Sanctions: Penalties are decided by each school’s own policy.
Italy 🇮🇹
Rule: Italy banned mobile phones in schools in 2007, but easing restrictions in 2017. Effective 2024/2025, a ministerial decree prohibits smartphone use in kindergarten through lower secondary schools, even for educational purposes, to prevent distraction and support cognitive development. Smartphones are banned in class; however, PCs and tablets may be used for teaching under teacher supervision. Students must record homework in personal diaries alongside the electronic register.
Exceptions: Use is permitted only for students with disabilities or specific learning disorders via Individualized Education Plans (PEI/PDP), or for documented personal health conditions.
Sanctions: Schools are updating their rules to define penalties for violations in lower secondary schools.
Latvia 🇱🇻
Rule: Parliament of the Republic of Latvia (Saeima) initially adopted in 2024 for preschoolers and grades 1–6 (effective May 2025), the ban expanded in March 2026 to include grade 9, taking full effect on June 1, 2026. Mobile phone use is prohibited for all students from preschool through grade 9 during school hours to protect cognitive development and prevent digital abuse.
Exceptions: Use is permitted only when explicitly authorized by a teacher for educational purposes.
Lithuania 🇱🇹
Rule: Schools decide specific restrictions, such as storing phones in designated safe places, keeping them in backpacks (switched off), or banning them entirely, with monitoring measures for compliance. The Lithuanian Parliament rejected a 2022 proposal that would have required schools to establish mobile phone rules.
Exceptions: Use is permitted for educational purposes initiated by teachers or support specialists (specifically noted for grades 1–4 and 9–10), or for health and exceptional circumstances.
Sanctions: Schools may temporarily seize phones of students who violate the internal policies.
Luxembourg 🇱🇺
Rule: Effective Janury 2025 for preschool facilities, April 2025 for primary schools and June 2025 for secondary schools, regulations ban all device use on childcare and primary schools premises while requiring secondary schools to enforce physical separation of switched-off devices during lessons. Although the national minimum mandates phones be off and out of reach during class, 71% of secondary schools have adopted stricter local policies—such as full-day bans, age-based limits, or zone restrictions. Staff use is limited to professional purposes only.
Exceptions: Use is permitted for educational purposes with teacher authorization or for medical reasons. Tablets may be used for teaching in primary settings.
Sanctions: Enforcement varies by school; measures range from confiscation and locked storage to magnetic bag sealing, with penalties defined in each school’s charter.
Malta 🇲🇹
Rule: Effective February 2023, a Department for Educational Services circular prohibits the possession and use of mobile phones by students on all state schools grounds. Church school may adopts different policies than state schools.
Exceptions: Use is permitted only for Continuous Blood Glucose Monitoring devices or with specific written authorization for exceptional circumstances. Students needing to contact family are assisted via school facilities. Exceptions require written parental justification and Head of School approval; approved devices must remain switched off in bags or be deposited in a secure school location.
Sanctions: Unauthorized possession leads to automatic confiscation for a minimum of 20 school days. A second offense results in confiscation until the end of the academic year.
Poland 🇵🇱
Rule: School autonomy prevails, though approximately 60% of schools have some form of ban.
The Ministry of Education is currently drafting regulations aimed at banning the use of cell phones for students under 16 in all primary schools nationwide starting in the 2026–2027 school year.
Exceptions and sanctions: Determined by each school’s internal regulations.
Portugal 🇵🇹
Rule: A nationwide ban, effective August 15, 2025, prohibits mobile phones and any internet‑enabled communication devices (including smart watches, tablets etc.) in public and private schools during all school hours, including breaks and entire school premises. The ban applies to 1st and 2nd cycles of basic education (grades 1–4 and 5–6, ages approximately 6–11). For the third cycle of schooling and secondary schools, only recommendations are provided.
Exceptions: Use is permitted only by a teacher for students with limited Portuguese (translation); documented medical reasons or for education.
Sanction: Violation is a disciplinary offense, subject to corrective or sanctioning measures under the Student Statute. Staff must take proportionate action to stop the misconduct.
Slovenia 🇸🇮
Rule: Effective September 2025, students of primary schools must store phones in specific places upon arrival.
Exceptions: Use is permitted only if the teacher explicitly permits it for educational purposes or for health reasons.