Denmark to ban smartphones in schools

Denmark is set to ban smartphones in schools under new legislation, the education minister announced on Tuesday.

“We have decided to give the government’s support to this idea and that’s why we are starting to prepare a change in the law,” Mattias Tesfaye told the Danish newspaper Politiken.

While the specific details of the legislation are still being finalized, Tesfaye stated that “mobile phones and personal tablets will not be allowed at school, neither during break times nor during lessons.”

At a press conference, Culture Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt expressed concerns about the impact of screens on children, saying, “I believe screens are robbing many of our children of their childhood.”

The proposal aligns with recommendations from a youth wellbeing commission, which also suggested limiting smartphone use to those aged 13 and older.

However, commission president Rasmus Meyer emphasized that the age restriction “clearly [is] not something that should be decided by law.”

“As soon as a phone enters a child’s bedroom, it takes up all the space,” Meyer said. “It risks destroying their self-esteem. As soon as they have a gadget in their hands, their wellbeing suffers.”

(HSBC)