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Denmark to move forward with plans to ban smartphones at schools

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Denmark to move forward with plans to ban smartphones at schools
Denmark is set to move forward with plans to ban smartphones in schools. Photo by Amélie Mourichon on Unsplash
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Smartphones will be banned at schools under new legislation proposed in Denmark, the education minister announced Tuesday.

"We have decided to give the government's support to this idea and that's why we are starting to prepare a change in the law," Education Minister Mattias Tesfaye told newspaper Politiken.

The details of the law have not yet been signed off but Tesfaye said "mobile phones and personal tablets will not be allowed at school, neither during break times nor during lessons".

"I believe screens are robbing many of our children of their childhood," culture minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt said at a press conference.

The plan follows recommendations from a youth wellbeing commission, which also recommended restricting the use of smartphones to those aged 13 and older.

READ ALSO: Danish commission recommends no smartphone and tablets for kids under 13

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Rasmus Meyer, president of the commission, said the age restriction was "clearly not something that should be decided by law".

"As soon as a phone enters a child's bedroom, it takes up all the space," Meyer said. "It risks destroying their self-esteem. As soon as they have a gadget in their hands, their wellbeing suffers."

However, the government's plan to push through a ban on smartphones in schools may not be straightforward. Two right-wing opposition parties, the Conservatives and Liberal Alliance, both said on Tuesday that they oppose the plan. The two parties are key partners of the government on education because they are signatories to an existing policy agreement.

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