Singapore Extends Secondary School Smartphone Ban To Cover Entire School Day (straitstimes.com) 6
Singapore's Ministry of Education has announced that secondary school students will be banned from using smartphones and smartwatches throughout the entire school day starting January 2026, extending current restrictions beyond regular lesson time to cover recess, co-curricular activities, and supplementary lessons. Under the new guidelines, students must store their phones in designated areas like lockers or keep them in their school bags.
Smartwatches also fall under the ban because they enable messaging and social media access, which the ministry says can lead to distractions and reduced peer interaction. Schools may allow exceptions where necessary. Some secondary schools adopted these tighter rules after they were announced for primary schools in January 2025, and the ministry reports improved student well-being and more physical interaction during breaks at those schools. The ministry is also moving the default sleep time for school-issued personal learning devices from 11pm to 10.30pm starting January.
Smartwatches also fall under the ban because they enable messaging and social media access, which the ministry says can lead to distractions and reduced peer interaction. Schools may allow exceptions where necessary. Some secondary schools adopted these tighter rules after they were announced for primary schools in January 2025, and the ministry reports improved student well-being and more physical interaction during breaks at those schools. The ministry is also moving the default sleep time for school-issued personal learning devices from 11pm to 10.30pm starting January.
Why is this old hat interesting ? (Score:1)
Did the poster not know this, or will we get a new story posted here every time another country does this ?
https://www.euronews.com/next/2024/12/29/which-countries-in-europe-have-banned-or-want-to-restrict-smartphones-in-schools
This is happening even in the US (Score:5, Insightful)
When it comes to intersection between kids, school, attention spans and behavioral problems, cell phones are basically like fentanyl. No, sorry, we just can't legalize it. The stuff is simply too damaging.
Re: (Score:2)
And for everyone who doesn't get that parents can't do parenting if that means their kids will be disconnected, I'll say it again: banning smartphones and or social media makes life easy for parents, because they don't have to deal with the teachers and classmates using and prescribing such ways for communications.
Re: (Score:2)
That said, I'd like a total ban on anything Microsoft in all educational and academic institutions. I'm sure that will have positive effects on behaviour and stress levels....
Between M$, Alphabet (a.k.a. Google), and Apple should all be mostly banned although there should be exceptions such as one for reverse engineering in the relevant types of classes). Different schools sometimes implement different things and it would be great to see what you all are noticing going on. Do you have anything specific that comes to mind that Microsoft that you are seeing? And to the original comment of
When it comes to intersection between kids, school, attention spans and behavioral problems, cell phones.
What are you two (or anyone else) hearing on attention spans? Phones sizes seem just like the