DENISE LACHAT Smartphones were never designed with children in mind – but they have reshaped childhood almost overnight. This is the view of Smartphone Free Childhood, an international grassroots movement of parents committed to delaying children’s access to smartphones for as long as possible. Smartphone Free Childhood believes that children are being pulled into a digital world designed to keep them hooked. Various studies have outlined the huge impact they have on children’s development, mental health and relationships. In particular, US academics Jonathan Haidt and Jean Marie Twenge have presented evidence that there has been a surge in teenage depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts since the adoption of smartphones, and that smartphones have severely undermined children’s ability to concentrate and learn. Smartphone bans Various countries have responded by banning the use of smartphones at school. Italy and France did so a while back, while the Netherlands followed suit at the beginning of 2024. Denmark is Europe’s most digitally advanced country, where schools provide pupils with access to computer tablets from an early age. But it, too, moved to ban mobile phones in all schools (up to age 16/17) in autumn 2025. In these and other cases, the argument put forward for banning mobiles is that, while school-provided computers and tablets can and should offer engaging access to learning content, privately owned smartphones prevent children from concentrating and are detrimental to the classroom (and playground) dynamic. Educational jurisdiction in Switzerland is a matter for the cantons, not the federal government. Hence, the approach to smartphones in the classroom varies from canton to canton. Nevertheless, there is a general trend towards banning devices at school. Vaud and Ticino have already had bans in place for quite some time, while the classrooms of Nidwalden, Valais, Aargau and Neuchâtel have been smartphone-free since the beginning of this school year. There are similar moves afoot in Zug and Thurgau. Other cantons have rejected a ban, albeit noting in some cases that responsibility lies with individual municipalities. Without explicitly banShould smartphones be banned at school? There have been calls in Switzerland for a blanket ban on smartphones at school. Others want clearer rules. At the same time there is the question of whether children should be banned from using social media altogether. ning smartphones, many schools apply their own rules – such as requiring children to hand in their phones for safe storage at the start of the day, where the devices then remain until home time. Voices across the political spectrum have called for smartphone bans. And a clear majority of the Swiss population agrees. According to a study by the Swiss-based Sotomo research institute, 80 percent of people in Switzerland want children to be barred from using their phones at school. Although Switzerland is still a long way from implementing a national ban, the Federal Council has been Mobile phones in the classroom are already a thing of the past in Valais, where school pupils place their devices into smartphone pouches at the start of the day. Photo: Keystone Swiss Review / February 2026 / No.1 14 Society
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