a high school in Gard successfully tests “cellphone-free days”

To counter the “damage” of the telephone on certain students, the Lucie-Aubrac high school in Sommières has experimented for three days since the start of the school year and is already seeing positive effects.

Should students be required to leave their cell phones at the entrance to schools? The Minister of National Education Nicole Belloubet has already pleaded for a “digital break” in colleges, denouncing the impact “dramatic” social networks on young people. In the Gard, the Lucie-Aubrac high school in Sommières is already experimenting with cell-free days for the establishment’s 650 students, with three days organized since the start of the year. Of the “disconnected parentheses” which end up attracting students.

From the first ring, the high school students place their cell phones one by one at the entrance to their classroom. “I am in the process of collecting the cell phones with named envelopes”, explains Cécile Abenoza, SVT teacher. She puts the envelopes in a box which is then kept in a closed room, in school life. Some students grimace. Inès and Chloé, 16 years old, are afraid of being bored. “When we have downtime, if we’re alone, it’s annoying”they confide.

The CPE Valérie Montagnon ensures that no one hides a cell phone. “We tell them that it’s for them. The telephone is really a comfort blanket for them, it’s really an addiction”, she assures. It’s a public health problem insists David Cayuela, professor of literature for 25 years. He was the one who proposed these days without cell phones. Students “bombard their brains” of TikTok videos, he says and that leaves after-effects.

“About ten years ago, I started to see a fairly obvious decline in attention. The students were damaged in their way of concentrating.”

David Cayuela, literature professor

at franceinfo

“I saw it in good students who asked questions and even though we were answering, after a second or two, they no longer even looked at the teacher. So it’s first of all a problem of concentration which then gives rise to difficulty in reading, which then leads to a language crisis”testifies the professor.

“We began to realize that students had real difficulty speaking in class”, agrees Marie-Angèle Ligary, high school principal. To encourage students to communicate more, board games and sports equipment are now available. “I’m lucky to have the office overlooking and I see smiles, which I didn’t see before because they were on their cell phones and not looking at each other. Some say it rests their mind”assures the principal.

Bénédict, 18, says he has gotten used to no longer having his cell phone. “Being constantly on the networks is not good for your mental health”he judges, like Fanny 16 years old. “I’m fine with it, I just forgot to put my watch on”, she says. Lucas and Kylian started playing ping-pong. “When we don’t have a phone we can all be together, several high schools should do that“, they believe. The establishment aims to gradually become the first high school in France without cell phones.