Chile to ban smartphones in classrooms

Jenipher Camino Gonzalez, DW

Chile's legislature approved a law on Tuesday that would ban the use of smartphones in schools. A large majority of Chile's Chamber of Deputies backed the bill.

It now goes to President Gabriel Boric, who has expressed support for the policy, for final approval. The law would then go into effect in March 2026.

Education Minister Nicolas Cataldo said schools in Chile are currently plagued by smartphones that are "a scourge that... constitutes one of the main pandemics affecting our children and young people."

Conservative lawmaker Diego Schalper, one of the bill's  authors, celebrated the law's adoption, saying mobile phone use in children is associated with online addictions and "affects the educational process in classrooms."

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