State parliament rejects cell phone ban at elementary school

Saxony's state parliament rejects a ban on cell phones in elementary school by law. A corresponding motion by the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) did not achieve the required majority in parliament. Apart from the BSW, only the AfD voted in favor of the motion. The CDU had already signaled its opposition in advance.

Minister of Education Conrad Clemens invites you to a "cell phone summit"

However, Minister of Education Conrad Clemens (CDU) surprisingly took a liking to a ban. He made it clear that such a ban - regulated by school regulations - already exists in most elementary school. During the state parliament session, he invited MPs, teachers and other experts to an "open-ended cell phone summit" on August 28.

The parliamentary leader of the CDU parliamentary group, Sören Voigt, had previously said that there was fundamental agreement that cell phones had no place in elementary school due to the distraction they cause children. The schools would handle this differently on their own responsibility. The question arose as to whether everything had to be regulated by law and made mandatory. The fact is that children need to learn how to use cell phones.

BSW wants an overall concept for the use of digital media

Representatives of the BSW referred to the practice in other federal states. In elementary school, children should concentrate on what they should really be learning: Reading, writing and arithmetic. The BSW was only concerned with a ban on private cell phones. The alliance also called for an overall educational concept for the sensible use of digital media in all schools as well as a training concept for teachers.

"Smartphones, tablets and smartwatches have increasingly become a constant companion for children and young people in recent years. However, in addition to the many associated benefits, they also expose pupils to dangers," the application stated. These include, for example, the spread of extremist propaganda or bullying on social networks. Experts see excessive cell phone use as a major cause of concentration deficits.

SPD: "There is no need for a top-down ban"

SPD MP Gerald Eisenblätter said: "We trust our schools to set the best rules for everyday school life themselves. What is needed is not a ban from above, but trust and common, binding rules on the ground. And this is exactly the path that schools have been following for a long time."

Federal Education Minister Karin Prien (CDU) recently spoke out in favor of a ban on private cell phone use in elementary school. Several federal states and European countries have already regulated this.