French schools struggle to roll out ‘smoke and mirrors’ phone ban

French high schoolers returned this week to a new law banning phones on campus, signed by President Macron in August after his broader ban on social media for under-15s was struck down by the Constitutional Council. Schools got no lead time to plan implementation with administrators, students or parent boards before the September 1 start date.

Principal Bruno Bobkiewicz says phones were already banned in classrooms long before the law, and calls the new measure a presidential whim that skips the harder work of teaching digital literacy. Some schools have improvised, like letting students use phones in courtyards to avoid crowds spilling onto sidewalks during breaks.

Students, meanwhile, report simply switching to airplane mode and continuing as before. Bobkiewicz warns that a rule schools lack the staff to enforce mostly just burns their credibility.

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