Catalonia imposes total cell phone ban in schools

The Catalan government announced on Friday that, starting next academic year, cell phones will be banned in all schools during the mandatory education years.

This means that students up to 16 years old will no longer be allowed to use phones anywhere on school grounds.

Previously, phones were prohibited during school hours but permitted for educational purposes.

The new ban removes this exception, forbidding cell phone use entirely for students up to age 16.

The ban applies to all primary and secondary schools.

However, its impact on institutions combining secondary (ages 12-16) and high school (ages 16-18) levels is still unclear.

In addition to cell phones, smartwatches will also be banned.

Furthermore, the government plans to gradually reduce the use of digital tablets and smartboards, with the goal of completely phasing out these devices in early childhood education (ages three to five) by 2028 while restricting their use in older age groups.

The rules on computers will also change. Starting in the 2026-2027 school year, pupils in 5th grade (aged 10-11) will no longer have one computer per person. This will be delayed by a year, until 6th grade.

If you want to learn more about cell phones in schools and how a parent initiative led to its restriction in Catalonia, listen to this episode of our podcast Filling the Sink.