“I want to help parents”, says the mayor of Seine-Port, after the vote on a charter which “bans” the use of cell phones in front of schools and businesses

The mayor of Seine-Port specifies that there are “four places in public spaces where we have restricted the use of smartphones, which we believe meet the challenges of social life and safety for children”.

“I just want to help them.”, said Sunday February 4 on franceinfo Vincent Paul-Petit, mayor (LR) of Seine-Port (Seine-et-Marne), after his constituents voted in a referendum Saturday February 3 in favor of a charter which will limit the use of screens in this town near Melun. 54% of residents said yes to the elected official’s proposal.

“It’s a real generalized addiction that we have to face”justifies Vincent Paul-Petit. “To think that a teenager spends on average 8 hours a day behind screens is considerable”estimates the elected official, who argues that in this screen time, “there are a few tens of minutes devoted to educational subjects or of interest to his education, all the rest are games, social networks, messages of no interest which clutter his mind and which prevent him from concentrate on the essentials of your life.

Four public spaces where smartphone use is restricted

The mayor of Seine-Port specifies that there is “four places in public spaces where we have restricted the use of smartphones, which seem to us to respond to social life and safety issues for children: in front of schools, parents must talk to each other and children must see the children talking to each other, that seems essential to me.” “In a public park, when there are three of us on a bench and everyone is fixed on their screen”continues the elected official. “When you are in the street asking for directions, instead of asking another passerby where the bakery, the town hall, or a public service is, and you are on your GPS at the risk of falling”lists Vincent Paul-Petit.

The mayor says he hears the criticisms made by those who would say “What does the mayor get involved in, my personal, private, sometimes even intimate life? It’s true that it’s a difficulty because this extraordinary tool that is the smartphone is also so intrusive, so much at the heart of our own life, like the extension of our arm, that it is very difficult to separate from it”, he admits. Vincent Paul-Petit recalls that “the law does not allow for sanctions” in the event of non-compliance with this charter.