Starting next school year, 373 schools within the Wallonie-Bruxelles Enseignement (WBE) network will implement a comprehensive ban on smartphone use.

The prohibition will apply across all levels of education, including nursery, primary, and secondary schools.

This initiative follows a mention in the Walloon government coalition agreement from early July, which proposed a smartphone ban in primary schools. However, the WBE network has decided not to wait for formal political directives and will extend the ban to all its schools, affecting a total of 132,600 students.

The primary goal of the ban is to combat bullying. "Moreover, numerous studies highlight the negative effects of excessive smartphone use on both health and the overall school environment," said Julien Nicaise, director of the WBE network.

While the ban will be enforced as early as next Monday in some schools, it does not signify an end to the use of digital tools in education. Smartphones will still be utilized for specific lessons, such as those focused on media education or artificial intelligence.

In contrast, a smartphone ban is not currently under consideration in Flanders, where schools retain the autonomy to set their own policies regarding smartphone use. Photo by Kskhh, Wikimedia commons.