Lithuanian school bans mobile phones over psychological, educational concerns

A school in Lithuania’s northern city of Akmene banned mobile phones over psychological and educational concerns, local media reported on Tuesday.

Ventos Gymnasium in the city became the first school in the country to introduce a ban on phone use by students who are now required to put their phones in lockers when they come to school and cannot retrieve them until they go home, LRT noted.

Commenting on the issue, Daiva Griciene, the school’s headmistress, said: “There is a big problem of students getting addicted to phones in class.”

Also remarking, Augustas Kiudulas, a student at the school, stressed that the ban made students communicate with each other more.

Against this backdrop, experts warn that more and more pupils are becoming emotionally dependent on their smartphones and the situation has worsened since the COVID-19 pandemic.

A draft law regulating the use of mobile phones has been debated in the Lithuanian parliament. However, no nationwide policy regulating the use of mobile phones at school has been introduced so far.