Spain proposes mobile phone ban in primary schools and regulating use in secondary schools 

Spain's ministry of education will propose to the regional governments a ban on mobile phones in primary schools and to regulate their use in secondary schools.

If the measure is adopted, children will not be able to use mobile phones at school until the age of twelve, and from this age they will only be able to do so under the supervision of teachers when they decide is necessary for the learning project.

The ministry plans to take the proposal to a meeting next January with the local authorities and the School Board.

Education minister Pilar Alegria explained the initiative in a press conference on Wednesday, adding that the Spanish government will seek agreement on the measure with the various actors involved.

The proposal for secondary schools also includes that students cannot use the devices either during playground time or in the dining room. 

"Education cannot be the answer to everything, but it must be part of the solution," the minister said.

The department also wants to continue working on digital training courses for teachers and students to achieve a "correct and healthy" use of mobile phones. 

Parents unite against early cell phone use

In November, a group of families from Barcelona's Poblenou neighborhood banded together to ensure that their children would not have smartphones until the age of 16.   

Soon, the organization spread to other neighborhoods in Barcelona and different cities in Catalonia through WhatsApp and Telegram groups, under the initiative 'Adolescència lliure de mòbil' (Youth without a phone).  

In a few days, thousands of other families joined the groups, and the main Telegram group now has more than 10,000 members. 

Parents say they are not against the use of new technologies, but they are concerned about its use at an early age.   

They point out that there is a lot of peer pressure to buy a phone for their children, because if they don't, their children will be the only ones in the class without one, which in turn complicates the parent-child relationship.  

Following the uproar caused by the initiative, the Catalan government launched a participatory process to gather the opinions of teachers, families and students from all over the territory regarding the presence of mobile phones in schools and high schools. 

At the end of the process, expected in early 2024, the Department of Education will provide schools with a specific framework for regulating the use of cell phones in schools.