South Korea passed a bill on Wednesday outlawing the use of mobile phones and other smart devices during classes at elementary and middle schools.
The new law will take effect next spring, making South Korea the latest country to restrict smartphone use among young students to minimize its harmful influence.
Most South Korean schools had already restricted the use of smartphones in classrooms since 2023 under various guidelines. But the new bill, passed through the country’s National Assembly on Wednesday, officially makes it illegal nationwide, except during emergencies and for educational and other purposes specified under the law.
The legislation bans smartphone use only during class hours and does not stipulate punishment for violators. But it also gives school principals and teachers the power to stop students from carrying or using their phones on school premises. The new law also requires schools to teach students how to develop healthy digital habits.
Parents and teachers have lobbied for such a law for years, arguing that the use of smartphones disrupts classes and hurts students’ academic performance and emotional development.
Cho Jung-hun, an opposition lawmaker, said he first drafted the bill to address smartphone addiction among South Korean youths and to protect their mental health. But some proponents of students’ rights said that the country went too far.
“Although they can already restrict the use under the existing regulations, they want to write it down in law, directly infringing upon students’ basic constitutional rights, such as freedom of communication and rights to keep privacy and seek happiness,” opponents to the law said in a statement released last week.
Other countries that impose various levels of restriction on smartphone use at school include France, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands and China.
A 2024 government survey found that nearly a quarter of South Korea’s 51 million people were so addicted to their smartphones that they could not control how long they used them, despite their “negative effects on their physical, psychological and social life.” Among those aged 10 to 19, the figure rose to nearly 43 percent.
Some schools have taken drastic measures, like confiscating student smartphones for the entire day. Last year, the country’s National Human Rights Commission reversed its earlier position and said that confiscation didn’t violate student rights.
Choe Sang-Hun is the lead reporter for The Times in Seoul, covering South and North Korea.
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