French schools struggle to roll out ‘smoke and mirrors’ phone ban

France's social media ban for kids and young teens hit a legal roadblock in August. But how effective can teachers and principals be as foot soldiers in the war on screen time?PARIS (CN) — French students returned from summer vacation this week with a new law hanging over their heads — no phones allowed in high schools.“We have to turn them off, but everyone puts them in airplane mode or puts them in their pocket,” Gai, a 14-year-old student carrying a sandwich to the park during his lunch break, said Thursday. “We use it at night when we get back home — I find it a bit stupid because we’re going to use it anyway.”French President Emmanuel Macron has made it a mission to keep kids away from screens. He’s an outspoken critic of the dangers of social media, and has pushed for reforms that will define his legacy once he leaves office in May 2027.The Constitutional Council dealt the president a major blow when it struck down a law banning social media use for under-15s in August. Macron had championed the law and publicly positioned France as the leader of a global movement, applauding other countries’ rules.But he signed a high school phone ban into law that same month — something students, teachers and experts say is much easier said than done.“That’s pretty much how things sometimes work at the Ministry of National Education in France; someone makes a snap decision, and then everyone else just has to make it happen,” Bruno Bobkiewicz, secretary general of the SNPDEN union for school leaders and principal of the Lycée Saint-Louis in Paris, said. “We’re not going to solve our teens’ screen time with this ban — it’s not magic, it’s just PR.”Although the ban is compulsory, there is no blanket rule for schools to implement it. And, given the timing of the announcement in July, there wasn’t time to convene administrators, student representatives and the board in time to make a plan before schools reopened on Sept. 1.“It will take time for, 1, it to be accepted, 2, for it to be regulated, and 3, for it to be adapted at the institutional level,” Mustafa Ozcelik, vice president of the FCPE union for parents, said. “So I think wanting to do it right now at all costs is more of a political issue.”Schools have adopted temporary measures in the meantime. Jean-Rémi Girard, president of the SNALC union and a high school literature teacher, said in his school, students are currently permitted to use their phones in the courtyard to prevent them from spilling onto the sidewalk en masse — a potential security risk.“How do we avoid student crowds gathering in front of high schools, especially during breaks?” he said. “Because if it’s completely banned inside the high school, students are going to go outside as soon as they can to turn on their cell phones and check them all at the exact same time.”Bruno Bobkiewicz, secretary general of the SNPDEN union for school leaders and principal of the Lycée Saint-Louis in Paris, sitting at his desk on Sept. 2, 2026. (Lily Radziemski/Courthouse News)On Wednesday, Bobkiewicz sat in his office at the Lycée Saint-Louis, where Émile Zola went to school in the mid-19th century. Lush green vines climbed on the walls of a large courtyard, swaying in the breeze.He described the law as a “whim of the president” who overlooked an important reality — phones have never been allowed in the classroom.“We didn’t wait for the president to decide before including in our school rules that phones were banned in class,” Bobkiewicz said, raising his hands and eyes to the ceiling. “Obviously, they’re banned in class; you can’t imagine a class where every student does whatever they want on their phone, it’s forbidden.”Then there are apps that have become critical tools for students around the country. One, Pronote, sends notifications about homework assignments, grades, schedules, classroom changes and teacher absences.In Bobkiewicz’s view, simply banning phones won’t solve the underlying problems of teenage phone use; instead, social media, online behavior and risks should be part of the curriculum from a young age. But he doesn’t see limiting screentime as the school’s responsibility.“It’s the parents who need to be told, not the school; at school, we’re being asked to do it on an industrial scale,” he said. “So we have to do for 1,000 students what a parent isn’t able to do for one — it’s pretty paradoxical.”Bobkiewicz also wondered how schools could enforce the ban.“So there is nothing worse than losing credibility over a rule that can’t be enforced because we don’t have the staff to do it,” he said. “So all of this is just a bit of smoke and mirrors, if you will.”Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads