Near Lyon, sixth graders experiment with banning mobile phones

Headphones screwed to her ears, phone in hand, Marie* waits. Sitting cross-legged in front of the Marcel-Pagnol college in Oullins-Pierre-Bénite (Rhône), Wednesday September 4, the young girl likes “Start your day with Classical Radio” For “wake up”. The fourth-year student will be able to keep his or her smartphone once he or she enters the school. For this return to class, the ban on cell phones is reserved for sixth-year students. “We’re not supposed to use it, it’s written in the rules. I don’t see how that’s going to change anything.”says the teenager, who assures that she is not registered on any social network.

Next to her, Amine* has just arrived. “There are still some people who play games in the canteen. My fifth-grade friend told me that.”says the sixth grader, who has had his own phone since CM1. Does he agree to leave it at the entrance to the school? Shrug: “As long as I can get it back to go home for lunch…”

The new rules applied to Marcel-Pagnol are the result of an experiment encouraged by the Ministry of Education. During her back-to-school press conference, the resigning minister Nicole Belloubet specified that nearly 200 middle schools had volunteered. In the Lyon academy, around ten establishments are trying it out. In Oullins-Pierre-Bénite, the middle school is the first to have started doing so since the start of the school year.

It’s almost 8 o’clock, the scooters and bikes are lined up in the dedicated parking lot. Djamila, in her car, is dropping off her two daughters, who are in 6th and 5th grade. She hopes that this “digital break” will allow students to be “more concentrated”. While her children will walk to school most of the time, Djamila nevertheless says to herself “reassured” that they can be reached during their journey.

To the left of the entrance to the school, a disciplined line forms. One by one, the sixth-grade students present their liaison notebook and hand over their cell phones to Samir, an educational assistant. The devices are slipped into name-coded pockets, which are themselves stored in bins with the class number. “Why did they only do this to the sixth graders?” a young girl in fourth grade who is watching the scene is surprised. Doubtful, she imagines the situations that could pose a problem.

“If a student is stuck in the toilet, what do they do to prevent it?”

A 4th grade student from Marcel-Pagnol college

to franceinfo

“We felt that a measure applied only to sixth-grade students would be easier to manage for our beginnings.”explains the principal, Yann Durozad. Not to mention that it is about fighting against screen addiction: “The sooner you cut students off from the object, the better.”he assures. The head of the college also believes that it would have been more difficult “to obtain consent” third-year students, who have been used to keeping their phones in their bags for three years. Those from the previous year, however, had briefly had a taste of it. “They weren’t allowed to come to the ball with it, it really freed them upreports Samir. They mingled, danced and sang. Without fear of being exposed.”

In the school’s tree-lined courtyard, Myriam* tells her friends that she didn’t drop off her cell phone. Her smartphone being broken, she inherited a “old Nokia” that she leaves at home, and has not had access to TikTok for a few days. On Wednesday morning, there were 32 out of about 80 students from the four 6th grade classes who entrusted their phones to Samir.

Yann Durozad also counts “to gain momentum” during the school year, with more awareness workshops. If the use of mobile phones was already prohibited in the internal regulations, it would be difficult to monitor 350 students, the head of the establishment also emphasizes.

“In the privacy of a corner or in the bathroom, we know they can take it out to check their Snapchat notifications.”

Yann Durozad, principal of Marcel-Pagnol College

to franceinfo

In addition to limiting exposure to screens, the principal hopes to protect his students from cyberbullying within the school, even if Yann Durozad concedes that this form of violence “happens mainly outside school hours”. For Sandra Buteau Besle, vice-president and spokesperson for the Federation of Parents’ Councils of the Rhône, “We’re moving things forward in time, but we’re not solving the underlying problem.” “A student can post a problematic photo once he’s out.”illustrates this representative, whose association defends the regulation of access to the telephone, but opposes a pure ban.

In the hall of the establishment, Samir stacks the bins and heads towards the CPE office. “It’s already well established, according to the education assistant. But we plan to make them a little more responsible: from tomorrow, they will take the bag home with them and will have to bring it back in the morning.”with the phone directly inside. If a student does not play along, sanctions such as confiscation of the object and an hour of detention will be considered.

“You have a lot of pressure on your shoulders,” Yann Durozad says to Samir. “How much deposit do you think I have?”he bounces back. The bill for each bin can indeed quickly mount up. For Hanane, president of the college’s parents’ association, the smartphone ban, precisely, “avoid theft”.

As for the cost of the equipment needed to launch the device, Yann Durozad estimates having spent, with the college’s funds, “60-70 euros”, because the establishment already had a sufficiently large and secure cabinet. To extend the measure to the other levels, Yann Durozad will ask the department for help. “We are giving ourselves time to test with those in sixth grade (…) But in an ideal world, we would like to spread the ban over four years, so that each generation of students begins their schooling [au collège] without a smartphone from the start.”

This is not quite the scenario envisaged by Nicole Belloubet. “The generalization of this ‘digital pause’ should be able to take place from January 2025”announced the resigning minister at a press conference.

*First names have been changed.