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More than half of the countries have banned phones in schools amid mounting concerns about declining attention in classrooms and cyberbullying, according to the UNSECO's Global Education Monitoring (GEM) team. The team found that girls are twice as likely as boys to suffer from eating disorders exacerbated by social media usage. Facebook's own research revealed that 32 per cent of teenage girls felt worse about their bodies after using Instagram. The report noted alarming trends related to TikTok's algorithm, which targets teenagers with body image content every 39 seconds and promotes content related to eating disorders every eight minutes. "Recent global monitoring shows that 114 education systems now have a national ban on mobile phones in schools, representing 58 per cent of countries worldwide. The expansion has been rapid. Less than 1 in 4 countries (24 per cent) had bans in June 2023, when it was first monitored in the 2023 GEM Report. By early 2025, this had risen to 40 per
Some students watched the video in the middle of class. Others pulled out their phones as they walked out of school and found themselves watching the videos over and over. Some teachers interrupted lessons to discuss the horrific news. Almost instantly after Charlie Kirk was assassinated Wednesday at Utah Valley University, the news captured on video in grisly detail sent shockwaves through classrooms everywhere. Because no matter teens' political opinions, everyone knew Kirk. In high school classes in Spanish Fork, Utah, chatter spread fast Wednesday, as students learned of the shooting and began to wonder if Kirk would live or die. A cellphone ban meant many students didn't learn of Kirk's fate until the final bell pushing tough conversations in class to the next day. "By the end of the day, I was worn out," said English teacher Andrew Apsley. He discussed the shooting with each of his four classes Thursday at Landmark High School, about 15 miles south of UVU. In the current .
Following a recent Delhi High Court judgment, the Delhi Government has directed schools to formulate policies regarding students' use of smartphones.The Delhi High Court has outlined guiding principles to strike a balance between the advantages and potential drawbacks of allowing students to use smartphones while in school.Accordingly, the Education Department of the Delhi Government has instructed all heads of government, government-aided, and unaided recognised private schools in Delhi to develop and implement a school-level policy on this matter.The Directorate of Education, in its circular dated April 17, 2025, states, "The Hon'ble court has drawn up guiding principles to balance the beneficial and deleterious effect of permitting the use of smartphones in the hands of students while attending the school. Accordingly, all the Heads of Govt., Govt. Aided & Unaided Recognised Private Schools of Delhi are hereby directed to develop a policy on the above said matter on school ...