If there is one point in common between France and Quebec, it is that on both sides of the Atlantic the vast majority of teachers want cell phones to be banned in school. In Quebec, according to a survey by the Federation of Teachers’ Unions (FSE) conducted among 7,000 members, nine out of ten teachers are of this opinion. But, while Quebec’s Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville, says he is “thinking about it”, France chose in 2018 to pass a law banning cell phones in all primary and secondary educational establishments.
It was at the massive request of teachers that the former Minister of National Education Jean-Michel Blanquer had passed this law which prohibits the use of mobile phones both in classes and in playgrounds, explains Didier Georges, from the National Union of National Education Management Staff (SNPDEN). “It is very rare that in France there is no controversy. But, for once, everyone was in agreement! »
A law acclaimed by parents
At the time, Didier Georges was principal of the college La grange aux belles, in a working-class district of Paris. “The decision provided a legal framework for regulations that varied from one establishment to another. We all greeted her with relief. Parents too, who often had trouble convincing their children to leave their phones at home. No more endless discussions with some parents. I remember, I received dozens of messages of congratulations. »
In October 2018, a video posted on the Internet outraged the entire political class and confirmed the importance of such a law. It showed a teenager filmed by one of his classmates from the Édouard Branly high school in Créteil as he pointed a dummy weapon at his teacher.
According to Pierre Priouret, professor of mathematics and secretary general of the main union of teachers of colleges and high schools in Toulouse (SNES-FSU), the idea would not come to anyone to reconsider this prohibition which is today consensus in the world teacher. A measure also applied in most high schools, even if at this level the decision is up to each establishment.
“It was a measure widely desired by teachers, but also by parents, he said, who wanted the state to set a framework for the proliferation of laptops in our establishments. The law served as a fulcrum, even if the schools had already taken various measures, such as banning it in classes, but not always in playgrounds. It was important, if only symbolically. »
The law does not regulate everything
If this law was necessary, recognizes Florence Zink who teaches Spanish at the hotel school (professional) Jean Drouant in the west of Paris, “that does not mean that all the problems are solved. In his establishment, the management chose the hard line. As soon as a phone appears, it is confiscated and locked in the director’s office. In practice, many students continue to consult their laptops in class in secret, she says. “Some teachers let it go to avoid conflicts and not interrupt their course. Others ask the students to leave it in a box at the entrance to the class. »
The law seems so popular that there is talk of extending it to high school. This is also the opinion of the wife of the President of the Republic, Brigitte Macron, who has long been a literature teacher in high school. “I would be in favor of extending to high school what exists in college. Cell phones have no place in school,” she told the daily. The Parisian. “The problem in high school [où l’on entre habituellement à 15 ans], says Didier Georges, is that some students are adults. »
It is estimated that in France students spend on average more than three hours a day in front of a screen, the most accessible obviously remaining that of the telephone. According to the Ministry of National Education, there is no doubt that cell phones can “seriously affect the quality of listening and concentration necessary for teaching activities”. We can read on its site that it is “the cause of a significant proportion of incivility and disturbances within establishments”, that it reduces “the quality of collective life” and that it is sometimes ” vector of cyberbullying” and facilitates “access to violent images, particularly pornographic images”. Several studies, particularly in the Netherlands, have shown that students who often consult their mobile phones are more likely to have bad grades.
According to the annual Digital Barometer published in France, 92% of 12-17 year olds own a mobile phone. A majority of teenagers prefer it to the computer to connect to the Internet. That’s the whole problem, explains Pierre Priouret. Even if in his mathematics lessons, he does not use the telephone because, he says, “it is not a suitable tool”, he nevertheless points out a contradiction.
A schizophrenic policy?
“We ban cell phones at school even though the National Education Department thinks that digital is great,” says Pierre Priouret. However, students often do not have laptops. They use their phone to check their schedule or look up the translation of a word. The telephone is prohibited, but there is an injunction to use digital. We have students completely dependent on screens, but millions are spent to equip schools with them. There is something schizophrenic in this way of doing things. We are in emergency management. We just try to get the students to live together. »
Same thing for Florence Zink, who prefers to do without the cell phone in class so as not to distract the students. She also misses the time when there were printed manuals and not digital ones like today. “With a paper textbook, the student could leaf through it even while daydreaming. Today, with digital, students no longer consult them, unless I explicitly ask. Unlike France, Sweden recently decided to return to traditional textbooks, believing that screens were partly responsible for the drop in level.
According to Florence Zink, the laptop has become a stress factor for students who consult it at all times for fear of missing something. She noticed that many people hold it permanently in their hand “a bit like a child drags his comforter”. In his establishment, many had the reflex to open it to look at the time. Since then, the management has put clocks in each class. During exams and checks, telephones must be stored in the bags at the back of the class.
Recently, during an exam, Pierre Priouret and his colleagues surprised a student who had hidden a phone in his underpants. He unexpectedly fell to the ground! “We know very well that some students cheat, he says, but we only catch 2% of cheaters. Some are even calling for military-grade jammers in exam rooms! »
After France, Quebec is not the only place to question the ban on cellphones at school. The Netherlands are considering banning it, while Belgium says it has chosen to respect the “pedagogical freedom of each school”. Other measures are also planned in France to fight against cell phone addiction. Last month, the French Senate passed a law establishing a “digital majority” which prohibits children under the age of 15 from registering on social networks without the authorization of their parents. The text should soon be submitted to the National Assembly.