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.
Norway recently announced a strict minimum age limit of 15 on social media to protect children from tech companies which it said are “pitted against small children’s brains”.
Denmark is to ban mobile phones in schools and after-school clubs on the recommendation of a government commission that also found that children under 13 should not have their own smartphone or tablet.
France, which banned primary and secondary pupils from using their phones on school premises in 2018, has been trialling a “digital pause” for children up to the age of 15, where they hand their phones in on arrival.
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”.
