Poland is introducing a ban on smartphones in schools — RMF24
The Polish Cabinet has approved a package of bills aimed at strengthening the protection of children online. One of the key measures is a nationwide ban on the use of mobile phones and other personal devices in elementary schools.
The new measure is intended to refocus students’ attention on real-life social interactions, support their psycho-emotional development, and eliminate factors that cause chronic distraction from the learning process. Deputy Prime Minister for Digitalization Krzysztof Hawkowski spoke about the Polish government’s radical steps. He emphasized that the government’s package of documents addresses complex issues related to children’s safety in the virtual space. In addition to restricting devices directly in classrooms, the government is accelerating the blocking of illegal content (child pornography, cyberbullying, identity theft) and significantly restricting minors’ access to online pornography.
The official cited alarming statistics: the average age at which a child first encounters pornographic content in Poland is now less than 11 years old.
“We cannot remain indifferent to this. We are introducing effective and completely anonymous age verification without violating privacy. The government will not know which websites citizens visit. Services will not receive users’ personal data. We are only verifying legal age, nothing more,” the minister emphasized.
As Gavkovsky noted, one of the projects aims to introduce rules that will give schools greater freedom to restrict smartphone use during classes.
“We want to foster relationships with peers and youth development, not dependence on screens and endless notifications,” he said.
The ban will take effect on September 1, at the start of the new school year. It will apply to the use of mobile phones both during classes and during breaks. The Ministry of Education added that the ban will apply to both public and private schools and will also cover other devices used to record audio and video.
Exceptions apply to cases related to health and safety, and if a teacher determines that the use of a phone is necessary for the teaching or educational process, such use may be permitted.
The head of the Polish Ministry of Education emphasized that the ban will be implemented “after clear approval from teachers.” She noted that such rules are already in place in over 50% of schools, and studies show that 85% of the public supports this decision, according to RMF24.
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