New mobile phone ban in Brandenburg: Clarity for schools and students!
New mobile phone ban in Brandenburg: Clarity for schools and students!
From the school year 2025/26, elementary and special students in Brandenburg are no longer allowed to use their mobile phones before class. This regulation, which was announced by Education Minister Steffen Freiberg (SPD), aims to create clarity and legal certainty in dealing with digital devices. Exceptions are allowed in special cases, for example if teachers consider the use for teaching necessary. Medically necessary applications, such as diabetes apps, are also excluded from the ban. Schools also have the option of determining their own regulations in their house regulations, which offers schools flexibility in the implementation of the new regulations
.
The new regulation is part of the SPD and BSW coalition agreement and addresses an increasing problem: According to the Postbank Youth digital study 2023, young people in Germany spend an average of 36.9 hours a week on the smartphone. This intensive use is increasingly being considered critically. Studies show that many students spend over five hours a day with their cell phones and are often distracted by notifications during class. For example, 11- to 17-year-olds receive an average of at least 237 notifications per day, 23 percent of whom arrive during school.
scientific consideration and international trends
The discussion about smartphone bans in schools is accompanied by a variety of international developments. Such nine -seventy countries have already introduced such bans, and many European states, including Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands, have taken similar measures. Current studies show both positive and negative effects of cell phone bans on learning success. An English study from 2016 proves that schools with a mobile phone ban had significant improvements in the test results, especially in the case of lower -performance students. The effect of a ban is described as comparable to an additional lesson per week.
In contrast, a Swedish study from 2019 could not demonstrate a positive effect of such a ban, especially since the lessons are heavily digitized there. The professor of school pedagogy Klaus Zierer has summarized a number of studies on cell phone bans and points out that smartphone bans can improve social interaction in breaks by promoting the interaction between the students and reducing cyber bullying.challenges and the role of schools
However,Zierer emphasizes that the distraction from smartphones is undeniable. Even if schools have tried to introduce individual regulations, they often have little effect because students often find ways to avoid bans. The educational landscape in Germany is currently strongly focused on digitization in order to promote equal opportunities and better performance. Media literacy remains a central task of schools, also in the context of smartphone bans.
The scientific discussion about the effectiveness of cell phone bans is extensive and inconsistent. Current studies are calling for a differentiated approach to the topic and underline the importance of the design and enforcement of such bans. Educational experts advise uniform and binding regulations to increase the effectiveness of legal requirements. Andreas Schleicher from the OECD criticizes that hardly any significant effects can be achieved without clear guidelines.
Overall, it remains to be seen how the new regulations in Brandenburg will be implemented in concrete terms and whether they will have a noticeable improvement in media use and the learning services of the students. The discussion about smartphone bans in schools could therefore not only become more important in Brandenburg, but also nationwide.
For a deeper examination of this topic, the comprehensive analyzes of rbb24 , Deutsches-schulportal.de and swr .
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Ort | Brandenburg, Deutschland |
| Quellen | |