Sao Paulo : His Excellency Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil, signed a bill restricting the use of smartphones at school, following a global trend for such limitations.
The move will impact students at elementary and high schools across the South American nation starting in February. It provides a legal framework to ensure students only use such devices in cases of emergency and danger, for educational purposes, or if they have disabilities and require them.
In May, Fundacao Getulio Vargas, a leading think-tank and university, said Brazil had more smartphones than people, with 258 million devices for a population of 203 million Brazilians. Local market researchers said last year that Brazilians spend 9 hours and 13 minutes per day on screens, one of the world’s highest figures.
Camilo Santana, Brazilian Education Minister, told journalists that children are going online at early ages, making it harder for parents to keep track of what they do and that restricting smartphones at school will help them, according to the Associated Press (AP).
Many parents and students also approved the move. A survey released in October by Brazilian pollster Datafolha said that almost two-thirds of respondents supported banning the use of smartphones by children and teenagers at schools. More than three-quarters said those devices do more harm than good to their children.
