Il Ministro francese della Istruzione conferma (10.12.17) il bando dei telefoni cellulari

French Minister of Education confirms cell phone use by students will be banned in schools and colleges next Fall

by André Fauteux www.maisonsaine.ca/english

Without banning tablets however, he admitted that screens are a "public health issue". "We have studies showing that exposure to the screens of children under seven is a health problem. It is good that children are not too much, if at all, in front of screens before the age of seven, "said Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer on the TV show Le Grand Jury RTL-Le Figaro. LCI.
The cell phone ban was promised by French President Emmanuel Macron during his election campaign. Last September, the largest federation of pupil parents’ associations evoked "an appalling logistics problem". The minister replied that details of the ban are still in development. « You may need a cell phone for educational purposes or emergency situations. It has to be confined, which in passing already exists: there are colleges that already do it. "
The Generation New Technologies website commented: "With more than eight out of ten adolescents already equipped, the presence of the mobile phone in school or college can create disruption during classes and tensions in the student-teacher relationship but also from student to student. However, the application of such a ban, while it may be desirable during classes, may be more difficult between courses, since parents want to be able to reach their children. On the other hand, checking that students have left their phone in the planned confinement space is already rather complicated. "

For the association PRIARTEM (French acronym of To Gather, Inform and Act on the Risks Related to Electromagnetic Technologies), the minister "sends parents a clear message: a cell phone is not compatible with good conditions of learning because its use does not favor concentration. If this is true at school, it is true also outside school grounds. "

The Association adds that microwaves emitted by cells and tablets in Wi-Fi mode are also detrimental to concentration and academic performance: "Even if this is not the stated objective, this decision is in line with the French Health Safety Agency ANSES’s recommendation to reduce children's exposure to radio frequencies and, in particular, those transmitted by mobile phones.PRIARTEM invites the Minister not to stop in this way. Laptops are not good for kids' health, tablets are not good either. The Minister's statement on the screens is, in fact, a serious challenge to the Digital Plan at School which aimed to equip children with tablets as soon as possible (from kindergarten).''