Mobile phone ban at schools: Berlin relies on personal responsibility instead of ban!

Mobile phone ban at schools: Berlin relies on personal responsibility instead of ban!

Berlin, Deutschland - On May 28, 2025, the education senator of Berlin, Katharina Günther-Lüsch (CDU), expressed concerns about a blanket mobile phone ban in schools. It does not provide for a nationwide ban because the principle of personal responsibility is anchored in the school law. Instead, the individual schools can decide for themselves whether and to what extent cell phones can be used. These decisions are made by the school conference, which consists of school management, pedagogical staff, parents and students. In Brandenburg, on the other hand, cell phones at primary and special schools are to be banished from class, whereby private digital end devices have to be eliminated and stowed away from the next school year.

Education Minister Steffen Freiberg (SPD) emphasizes that more clarity and legal certainty is required for school management and teachers. While in Berlin there is already the possibility to limit or prohibit mobile use, some schools use these regulations, but others do not use them. The senator warns against demanding simple solutions for complex problems and emphasizes the need for factual discussions about dealing with digital devices in everyday school life.

arguments for and against a mobile phone ban

The discussion about a possible mobile phone ban in schools is in full swing in Germany. According to the Postbank Youth digital study in 2023, young people in this country spend 36.9 hours on the smartphone every week, with a particular notice that 16 to 18 year olds use their cell phone for over five hours a day. A study shows that 11 to 17 year olds receive at least 237 notifications a day, 23 percent of which arrive during school. The health risks of risky use of social media are also alarming: 24.5 percent of 10 to 17-year-olds use these services potentially harmful.

In some countries, including Finland, Denmark and England, cell phone bans are increasingly being introduced to schools. In Germany, more and more schools are thinking about taking similar measures. In this context, however, it should be noted that there are only a few scientific studies on the effects of a mobile phone ban on learning success. A closer examination shows that a mobile phone ban in England in 2016 led to improved test results, especially with low -performance students. On the other hand, a Swedish study from 2019 found no positive effects of a cell phone ban, which is attributed to the high digitization of lessons.

demands for digital alternatives

A group of 75 experts from pedagogy and medicine recently contacted the federal government and warned of the uncontrolled continuation of digitization in the education system. Among the initiators are well -known personalities such as Prof. Ralf Lankau and Prof. Manfred Spitzer. Among other things, they call for a stop of digital education policy and smartphone -free schools in order to counteract the negative effects of early digitization on the development of children and adolescents.

The experts emphasize that social media and excessive media use correlate with an increase in psychological stress, concentration disorders and depression. At the same time, they criticize the continued decline in school performance in the basic subjects despite violent digitization initiatives. At the international level, concepts from 79 education systems, including Sweden and Finland, show a trend -conscious course that limits digitization in schools or prohibits smartphones in primary schools.

The discussion in Berlin for mobile phone usage in schools shows a field of tension between the demands for more personal responsibility for schools and the concerns about the effects of digital media on the students. A comprehensive consensus on dealing with smartphones in the education sector remains a complex challenge for the future, which takes into account both perspectives and concerns.