86 percent of Germans want a lawful mobile phone ban on schools based on the French model. This is the result of a representative survey by the opinion research institute Kantar Public for SPIEGEL.

More in the SPIEGEL

Issue 41/2018

My child, his cell phone and me

The right way to handle the smartphone generation

Digital Edition | Printed Issue | Apps | SUBSCRIPTION

In France, the National Assembly decided this summer by law that students under the age of 16 should not use their mobile phone between the beginning of the school and the end of the school year. The device must be - if it is brought at all - switched off in the bag. A clear majority of Germans support this step. In this country, there is a blanket mobile phone ban so far only at Bavarian schools.

According to the SPIEGEL survey, almost three quarters of the participants also believe that cell phones and smartphones are harmful to young people in their development. At the same time, almost half of the respondents (48 percent) shared the view that smartphones had a more positive effect on family life and the circle of friends - for example, because it would be easier to meet or exchange more about group chats. By contrast, 43 percent said that the use of the equipment had rather negative effects on living together. (Read more about this topic at SPIEGEL +)

Kantar Public interviewed 1039 representative selected people on the phone on September 24, 25 and 26.

Whether smartphones are useful or rather annoying, especially in the field of education is a very heated topic. For example, the teacher and author Arne Ulbricht and the president of the Bavarian Teachers' Association, Simone Fleischmann, represent two very contrary opinions.

At the beginning of September, seven-year-old Emil Rustige caused a nationwide media hype when he protested in Hamburg with other children against parents constantly looking at their mobile phones. If you want to use your smartphone at home without disturbing your child, you should set clear rules for it. You can find more tips here.

This topic comes from the new SPIEGEL magazine - available at the kiosk from Saturday morning and every Friday at SPIEGEL + and in the digital magazine edition.

What's in the new SPIEGEL, you will learn every Saturday in our free newsletter DIE LAGE, which appears six times a week - compact, analytical, opinionated, written by the editor-in-chief or the heads of our Berlin office.