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Denmark To Ban Mobile Phones In Schools and After-School Clubs (theguardian.com) 66

Posted by BeauHD from the phone-free dept.
Denmark is set to ban mobile phones in schools and after-school clubs, following a government commission's recommendation that children under 13 should not have their own smartphones. The Guardian reports: The government said it would change existing legislation to force all folkeskole -- comprehensive primary and lower secondary schools -- to become phone-free, meaning that almost all children aged between seven and 16-17 will be required by law not to bring their phones into school. The announcement marks a U-turn by the government, which had previously refused to introduce such a law. It comes as governments across Europe are trying to impose tighter regulations on children's access to phones and social media.

The Danish wellbeing commission was set up by the prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, in 2023 to investigate growing dissatisfaction among children and young people. Its long-awaited report, published on Tuesday, raised the alarm over the digitisation of children and young people's lives and called for a better balance between digital and analogue life. Among its 35 recommendations was the need for government legislation banning phones from schools and after-school clubs.

The minister for children and education, Mattias Tesfaye, told Politiken: "There is a need to reclaim the school as an educational space, where there is room for reflection and where it is not an extension of the teenage bedroom." There will be scope for local authorities to make exceptions, including for children with special educational needs, but he said mobile phones and personal tablets "do not belong in school, neither during breaks nor during lessons." He said the government had started preparing a legislative amendment.
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Denmark To Ban Mobile Phones In Schools and After-School Clubs More

Denmark To Ban Mobile Phones In Schools and After-School Clubs

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  • "almost all children aged between seven and 16-17 will be required by law not to bring their phones into school."

    So the under 7 year olds get to keep their smartphones?

    Say are all schools in Denmark under government control?

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by migos ( 10321981 )
      7 year olds are pretty much at the mercy of parents and teachers. Most of them don't have phones. None issue.

      • Re:So its ok for the first couple years at school? (Score:4, Funny)

        by OrangeTide ( 124937 ) on Wednesday February 26, 2025 @01:18AM (#65195633) Homepage Journal

        As an American, I don't understand how Danish parents keep their children from crying if not by putting a tablet or smartphone in front of them for 15 hours a day.

        • Oh wow. This is basic parenting. Don't let your kids play with a tablet or smartphone. Don't let them braindrain in front of a TV. Let them read books. Let you read books to them, tell them stories, play games with them, talk and discuss various subjects. Let them play outside.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by nomadic ( 141991 )

            Do you have children?

          • I read that as "don't let children use tablets, unless they really want it."
            But seriously, being the ideal parent is a luxury here. I don't know how average people are supposed to manage it.

            Putting a roof over a child's head typically requires there be two incomes to the households, especially in major US cities. We've been raising children by television for a few generations now. I typically came home as a 10 year old to an empty house, with one of my parents only a few hours away from coming home. Some da

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Alumoi ( 1321661 )

          You forgot the sarcasm tag, buddy.

    • Say are all schools in Denmark under government control?

      Yes. Objectively in most democratic countries all schools are under government control. Even private schools are at the mercy of what curriculum needs to be taught in a case of national education standards.

      But presumably the rule will only affect public schools not private ones. But why would you send your kid to private school. This isn't America, in Denmark private schools are for stupid kids or stupid parents who think the education system isn't capable of teaching precious little Timmy the right way.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by shilly ( 142940 )

      The article got a detail wrong, and you missed a fundamental point about the Danish education system:
      - The article said 7 years old, but should have said 6, as that is the typical age of entry into Folkeskole
      - You didn't grasp that Danish children only start going to school at this age. There's no school before Folkeskole. Same is true in Finland where the starting age really is 7 (for most) and primary school is called alakoulu. But don't worry, because these education systems are typically ranked among th

  • I am glad more and more countries are starting to do this

  • My kid is in 3rd grade. I recently learned at least one kid in his class has a phone (as well as two Switches, an XBox and a VR headset of some kind).

    My kid has begged for a phone for a couple of years now. He has been told quite plainly that it isn't happening, for many, many years. Ideally, not until at least high school.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by hey! ( 33014 )

      Smart phone over-use is going to be the mental health equivalent of smoking [oup.com] and likely will have a deleterious effect on academic performance [sciencedirect.com].

    • Re: A situation (Score:4, Informative)

      by dj245 ( 732906 ) on Tuesday February 25, 2025 @09:51PM (#65195435)
      Middle school was what forced our hand. There are after school activities which sometimes change and occasions when walking home (default) becomes unworkable for some reason and a ride is needed. Phone lockers near the door would seem to be a reasonable compromise.

      • Or, you know, a public phone in the office that kids can use to call parents.

      • Yeah, same for us - and our kids school does enforce locking phones away for the day.

        I'd also say that we (a) didn't give them the latest iphones, and (b) locked them down so much that they're really pretty boring. We're letting the line out slowly, and they are starting to get some (non-social-media) apps. We're hoping the UK Government will increase the social media minimum age from 13 to 16 in the next couple of years. Yes, I know it won't enforce all that much, but it gives us an easy standard to adhere

      • My school had pay phones by the cafeteria and phones in multiple offices, any of which could be used to contact parents. When a parent needed to contact a student, they called the school. This system worked great for generations before cell phones were a thing.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Ogive17 ( 691899 )
      My son is in middle school, some friends are getting phones but he still hasn't asked for one.

      The difference between my childhood and his, we had land lines back in the 80s/90s and I could easily call my friends to see if they wanted to get together. Now I have to send a message to his friends' parents and see if his friend is available (most of them live at least a few miles away and the area is not bike friendly).

      Luckily there's a group of boys in the neighborhood so he normally has kids to play with

      • Now I have to send a message to his friends' parents and see if his friend is available (most of them live at least a few miles away and the area is not bike friendly).

        Nobody has a computer at home?

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by tepples ( 727027 )

          I don't see how a computer at home would be useful to arrange a play date that occurs between school and home, unless the computer at home is used to arrange the play date a day in advance. Having everyone stop by home before arranging a play date risks extending the play date either past sunset or past when the evening shift city bus drivers go home to their own families for the night. Either way, there's no time for homework because of all the time spent riding buses.

          • Well, I guess I didn't realize you were talking about same-day activities.

            In our household, there is just no way anything happens "same day". Even with two parents working from home and only one kid to worry about, the best we can manage is a 5-7 day lead time. Even if all parties had a phone, the odds of a same-day play date happening on a school day are virtually nil.

      • So, y'all still need landlines. Seems clear enough.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Zarhan ( 415465 )

      My kid has begged for a phone for a couple of years now. He has been told quite plainly that it isn't happening, for many, many years. Ideally, not until at least high school.

      There are alternatives to "no phone at all".

      In our family, daughter got a Nokia 110 dumbphone when she was 7 - it could do PSTN calls and texts, nothing else. She needed to talk and message her friends anyway, and it's not like we have a landline.

      Last summer (age: 10) we got a cheap Motorola M13 Android "smartphone". But guess what, it

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by bn-7bc ( 909819 )
        Hold on a 10 year okd has a credit card, an she is abke nto not oversoend, a good kid indeed, or is ir actually a debit card? I'm stuvk with the feeling tat a lot of beople uses credid vard as a catch all for any tupe of payment card wether it's credit or debit, which are quite different products.or is the a US vs Europe thing I din't thinkk that giving a kid a credit card ( actual credit) is not a thing here in eutope,but then again vusa depit cards are way more prevalent there as well not so shore about t
  • It is impossible in Copenhagen to function without a phone. Bank cards could work, but for public transportation, electronic tickets are a must. Phones also provide parents with the ability to contact kids who forget to tell their parents about activities outside the school.

    A better solution is using wifi access points such as those from Huawei to install 5G Pico cells throughout the schools and block communication throughout the school except for payment processing and "find my" applications for parents.

    Ot

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by shilly ( 142940 )

      I presume they are going to use lockboxes or Yondr pouches etc, for exactly the reason you stated. That seems to be what's happening elsewhere, including in the UK, where it's happened at my daughter's school (and it has been a joyless and shitty thing, too)

    • The issue of a parent needing to contact a student was solved a long time ago with the installation of landlines in schools. Parents can just call the school like they've done for decades. It was a non-issue before cell phones were invented, it remains one today.
  • It is not the phones. It is the effect of social apps with attention hugging features and algorithmic content suggestion. And the lack of enforcement of age checks. Adult content targeted at minors.
    • Block all social media and they'll still be on their phones all day texting each other, which was the issue before cell phones got smart.

  • must be nice

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mjwx ( 966435 )

      must be nice

      It is, you should try it.

      Signed
      - The rest of the freaking world.

  • A pupil complained about the state of school lunches. School did nothing. She took photographs of them and put them online. Social media went wild with how bad they were. School banned phones. Sometimes they get banned for the wrong reasons. Sometimes pictures/videos need to be taken. Sometimes kids do need to reach someone. And, for some, it might be their only lifeline. But, one size fits all, doesn't it? One solution, affecting everyone, is the only answer.
    • Needing to reach someone was not an issue before cell phones, thus it cannot be an issue now. There are phones at the school that are used to contact parents and for parents to contact the school. Contacting the students directly is unnecessary and disruptive. Students having cell phones in class is unnecessary and disruptive. Therefore, they should not have them.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by oshy ( 674602 )
        You could claim the same thing about many modern invensions. We never needed metal detectors in american schools before metal detectors were invented. Take my example, the girl photographing school lunches. Things changed because of her. It happened back in 2012 and people are still doing it to show how bad school lunches are in places. There are many things that happened in schools that were swept under the rug. Abuse by teachers for one. lets stick with the way we always did things.
        • My fellow classmates brought cameras to school all the time. They weren't attached to phones.
    • You do know there are ways to take photographs and post online without a phone?

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