CHILDREN will be banned from using mobile phones in all Valencian Community schools from Monday.
Devices will have to be turned off inside school areas with the ruling applying to public and subsidised schools.
Only two exceptions are allowed under the new rules approved by the regional Ministry of Education.
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Phones can be used under teacher supervision if they are part of a course or if a child needs them because of health issues.
It will be down to individual schools and colleges to decide on punishments for students who flout the ban.
Education Minister, Jose Antonio Rovira, said: “The general rule is that phones are prohibited from all non-university centres and cannot be used until the end of the school day.”
Young phone owners will have to turn their units completely off with the minister saying one of the aims is to stop students looking at their phones to see if they have received a message or notification.
“We will also promote a responsible use of the internet and social networks as we want to encourage security,” Rovira added.
“Experts have been listened to and we know that the indiscriminate use of phones without supervision can cause difficulties in learning and coexistence,” said Rovira.
A study published in November featuring over 1,700 schools in the Valencia region showed that children in the third grade of primary schools are already beginning to use phones of a long time.
It discovered that 8% of these children, between eight and nine years of age, spend three hours a day with the device for recreational use- mostly playing games.
“The figure rises to 18% in sixth grade, where almost one in five children spend more than three hours a day with their mobile phones but more with online games than using social networks,” says Carlos Abelan, head of the Educational Inclusion service.