The Hungarian government has decided that as of the 1st of September 2024, the use of electronic devices in schools will be prohibited. This new law has caused huge protests on the streets of the capital city of Budapest, showing the public’s dissatisfaction with the new restriction. They also indicated their support for a headmaster who lost his job for failing to implement the law in his school.
Hungarian politician István Hollik posted a video on his Facebook page regarding the issue, in which he explains why the new regulation is beneficial for children. He stated,”The purpose of the law is for children to use their digital devices only rarely, with the teacher’s permission, as learning aids, but not in any other circumstance during their time at school.”
Before the regulation was imposed, students had already been prohibited from using their devices during class, except when the teacher allowed it. A Hungarian student reported to Euronews that ”At the beginning of the lesson, the teacher asked us to put our phones on the table, either on the corner of our own table or on the teacher’s table, and we did it, and the lesson worked perfectly well.”
As examples, the Hungarian Government has looked to Western countries like the United Kingdom, France and the Netherlands, which have all banned mobile phones in schools, or are planning to do so in the near future. In July 2023, UNESCO also published an article explaining the reasons why schools should ban electronic devices, citing countries in Europe, Asia and the Americas that have already regulated their use.
As to the question of whether these new regulations across Europe are beneficial or not for the children and their education, research in the Netherlands shows that banning electronic devices helps students to socialise more and to seek genuine direct interactions with each other during break time.
But many kids still miss their phones greatly.
