More Than 50% of Nations Restrict Phones in Schools, Says UNESCO
New Delhi: More than half of countries have banned phones in schools amid declining interest in classrooms and rising concerns about cyberbullying, according to UNSECO’s Global Education Monitoring (GEM) team.
The team found that girls were twice as likely as boys to suffer from eating disorders that were made worse by social media use.
Facebook’s own research found that 32 percent of teenage girls felt worse about their bodies after using Instagram.
The report highlighted worrying trends with TikTok’s algorithm, which targets teens with body image content every 39 seconds and promotes content about eating disorders every eight minutes.
“Latest global tracking shows that 114 education systems, representing 58 percent of countries worldwide, have a national ban on mobile phones in schools. The expansion has been rapid. Less than 1 in 4 countries (24 percent) had a ban in June 2023 when first tracked in the 2023 GEM Report. By early 2025, this had risen to 40 percent, and by March 2026 this share had reached almost 20 percent. GEM’s “There are higher scores,” a senior member told PTI.
“The growth reflects growing concerns about declining engagement in classrooms, cyberbullying and the wider impact of digital environments on children. But the global picture is more nuanced than a simple shift towards prohibition,” the official said. he added.
Many countries have introduced national bans since late 2025, continuing the upward trend. Recent additions include Bolivia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Georgia, Maldives and Malta.
France is one of the countries where the debate continues to develop. He implemented one of the most cited early bans on cell phones in schools, banning their use in primary and secondary education.
According to the GEM report, policymakers are currently examining whether further regulation is necessary.
A bill currently being considered in the French parliament aims to create more specific rules regarding smartphone use in schools.
“In many cases, bans are implemented during school days or in classrooms, with some systems allowing phones for educational purposes only, to certain groups of students (such as those with disabilities or illness), or requiring them to be turned off and stored. At the same time, not all governments opt for outright bans. Some countries have recently adopted national regulations requiring schools to develop policies restricting phone use without imposing a strict nationwide ban,” the report said.
The report stated that Comoros, Colombia, Estonia, Lithuania, Iceland, Peru, Indonesia, Serbia, Poland and the Philippines are among these countries. It was stated that the approach reflects a shift towards delegating responsibility to schools and school leaders, while recognizing the need to control phone use.
Subnational debates are also taking place elsewhere, as governments try to balance national orientation with school-level autonomy.
In countries where education systems are decentralized, restrictions are often first introduced at the regional or local level.
In the United States, where there are no nationwide bans, 39 states have introduced bans or regulations requiring school districts to adopt policies restricting phone use in classrooms.
“Most other states have also introduced bills to regulate phone use. These cases show that policy change often begins locally before spreading nationally,” the report said. He suggested that emotional well-being is crucial to academic success and that social media’s impact on this is particularly pronounced among girls.
Increased interaction with social media at age 10 was linked to worsening socio-emotional difficulties as they got older, and this trend was not observed among boys.
“As a result, a number of countries have implemented or are considering restrictions on social media use for children, including legislation in Australia, France, Portugal and Spain, as well as discussions in Denmark, the Czech Republic and Indonesia,” the report said. The statement was included.
