Rio de Janeiro - Brussels: Europe and Arabs - Agencies
Students in Brazil will no longer be able to use their smartphones in classrooms or school corridors without permission from teachers, under a new law that will come into effect this week, in a move aimed at regulating the use of technology within educational institutions.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed the law in January, following similar trends adopted in the United States and Europe. The legislation imposes restrictions on the use of mobile phones within schools, but allows exceptions for educational purposes, provided that permission is obtained from the teacher, or for students who rely on phones for health reasons or to ensure accessibility. According to the European news network "Euronews" in Brussels,
The Brazilian Ministry of Education said in a statement that the aim of the new law is to "protect the mental and physical health of students", in addition to promoting the responsible use of technology within the learning environment.
Reducing digital addiction
The new law allows schools to establish internal regulations governing how to deal with mobile phones, including whether students can keep them in their bags or place them in designated lockers.
Although most of Brazil’s 26 states, along with about two-thirds of the country’s schools, already have some restrictions on phone use, according to a survey conducted by the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee last year, the biggest challenge has been to standardize enforcement across school districts.
Mariana Witje, a 13-year-old student from Porto Seguro, said that in her experience, reducing phone use at school wasn’t a bad thing at all.
She told The Associated Press that being away from her phone gave her a chance to interact with her friends in different ways, helped her concentrate better and had a positive impact on her relationships with her family.
A study by local researchers last year found that Brazilians spend an average of 9 hours and 13 minutes a day on screens, making them among the world’s most mobile-smartphone-using nations.
As the new law takes effect, questions remain about how well schools are implementing it, especially given the heavy reliance on phones in students’ daily lives.