Minister: No blanket ban on cell phones in schools

A blanket, legal ban on smartphones in secondary schools is not a solution in the view of the responsible ministers from Thuringia, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. The CDU politicians said this during a cross-state exchange in Erfurt on Friday. "We are not interested in debating bans, we are really interested in usage guidelines," said Thuringia's Education Minister Christian Tischner (CDU). Private cell phone use in schools should not take place. "But I don't think the how should be decided in the minister's office, it should be decided with the local school conferences," Tischner continued.

Saxony-Anhalt Education Minister Jan Riedel (CDU), who headed a grammar school in Halle until the summer, sees the schools in a field of tension. It must be recognized "that this is part of our current and modern way of life and, on the other hand, that it must be handled responsibly." The state must provide the framework and guidelines on the basis of which schools can negotiate solutions locally.

Experts recommend a ban up to tenth grade

The ministers had previously exchanged views with experts from the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina in Halle. In a recent discussion paper, they had spoken out in favor of banning smartphones in daycare centers and schools up to the tenth grade and recommended a social media ban for children under the age of 13.

The experts' message was that more media literacy and clear rules on the use of private devices in schools were needed, said Saxony's Minister of Education Conrad Clemens (CDU). "I believe that the whole of Germany is now moving in this direction, that we also want to handle it very restrictively, especially in primary schools, but also in secondary schools in certain grades."

Söder has announced an extension of the ban on cell phones in Bavaria

In Schleswig-Holstein and Hesse, corresponding regulations came into force at the start of the new school year. There are only exceptions for upper school pupils or educational use in lessons. In Bavaria, CSU Prime Minister Markus Söder has announced an extension of the state-wide ban on cell phones up to and including the seventh grade.

Thuringia's Minister President Mario Voigt recently called for a significant restriction on the use of smartphones by children and young people. "No smartphone before 14", Voigt wrote in a guest article in the "Frankfurt Allgemeine Zeitung" (August 13). In it, he also argued that social media should only be used from the age of 16.