'Kids will interact more': Brazil bans smartphones at school
Mauricio Savarese and Diarlei Rodrigues
January 14, 2025 — 1.20pm
São Paulo: Children in Brazil will not be able to use their mobile phones at school from next month, after President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed a bill restricting their use, following a global trend for such limitations.
The move will impact students at primary 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.
“We cannot allow humanism to be replaced by algorithms,” Lula said in a closed ceremony at the presidential palace in the capital, Brasilia, adding that the bill “acknowledges the work of every serious person in education, everyone who wants to take care of children and teenagers in this country.”
Education Minister Camilo Santana told journalists that children were going online at early ages, making it harder for parents to keep track of what they do, and that restricting smartphones at school would help them.
The bill had rare support across the political spectrum, both from allies of leftist Lula and his far-right foe, former president Jair Bolsonaro.
More:
https://www.smh.com.au/world/south-america/kids-will-interact-more-brazil-bans-smartphones-at-school-20250114-p5l465.html