SEOUL — South Korea has passed a bill banning the use of mobile phones in school classrooms nationwide, officials said on Thursday, joining other countries in efforts to curb social media use among minors.
PHONES NOT PERMITTED Students wait to take the annual College Scholastic Ability Test at a school in South Korea’s capital Seoul on Nov. 14, 2024. EPA FILE PHOTO
One of the world’s most wired nations, South Korea has sought to tighten rules on electronic devices in schools, citing concerns over smartphone addiction among students.
The bill, which will take effect in March 2026, bans smart devices, including mobile phones, in classrooms and was passed on Wednesday, a National Assembly spokeswoman told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The move makes South Korea the latest country to restrict social media use among schoolchildren, following similar steps in countries that include Australia and the Netherlands.
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Seoul’s Education Ministry said in a statement that the law banned the use of smartphones in classrooms except when needed as assistive tools for students with disabilities or special education needs, or for educational purposes.
The measure also establishes a legal basis to “restrict the possession and use of such devices to protect students’ right to learn and support teachers’ activities,” it added.
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Lawmakers, including opposition People Power Party member Cho Jung-hun, who introduced the bill, said the issue had long been “contentious amid concerns over human rights violations.”
But the country’s National Human Rights Commission recently changed its stance, saying limits on phone use for educational purposes do not breach rights given their negative impact on students’ learning and emotional wellbeing.
Against this backdrop, the law was needed to ease social conflict “by clearly defining rules on smart device use in schools,” the lawmakers said in a document introducing the bill.
But it has drawn backlash from groups, including the left-wing Jinbo Party, which said the law would “infringe on students’ digital rights and right to education.”
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The measure “prevents adolescents from learning to make responsible decisions on their own and deprives them of opportunities to adapt to the digital environment,” the party said in a statement.
