The Nordic countries will introduce a new regulation, according to which students will be required to hand in their phones at the beginning of classes and take them back at the end. Romania took it before them and introduced such a measure since the previous school year. Is the measure yielding results, more than a year after its implementation? Yes, says the director of the “Sfinții Voevozi” Secondary School in the Capital. At the high school level, however, things are more complicated. Of course, in other European countries the rules are more flexible at this level of education.
What are the rules
The regulations regarding the use of telephones at school were introduced in Romania both in the Student Statute and in the Framework Regulation for the Organization and Operation of Pre-University Education Units (ROFUIP) in 2024. According to the rules, students are forbidden “to use mobile phones or any other electronic communication equipment during class time”, and the devices must be “deposited in a safe space, specially arranged in each classroom” class, to which the head teacher or the director of the educational unit has access”. There is also an exception in which they can use the phones: if the teachers ask them to do so for educational activities.
The headmistress of a secondary school: “It’s much better, considering that it no longer distracts them”
“In the beginning, like any rule, it wasn’t really respected. Slowly, slowly they managed to get used to it. I had support from the parents, from the majority of parents, because here too there are opinions for and against. In the end, they managed to comply with this rule, especially since it was introduced in the education law”says Daniela Voinea, director of the “Sfinții Voievozi” High School in Bucharest.
Before the first lesson, students in the educational unit put their phones in a locker and take them at the end. The teachers have noticed the improvements, says the principal:
“It’s much better, considering that it no longer distracts them. And they are much more tempting when my fellow teachers use them in class, for educational purposes. In the sense that they use them with more interest than when they always had them with them”.
Daniela Voinea says that before the rule became law, there were even situations in the school where the police were called because of secretly recorded recordings: “Video recordings of colleagues in various poses. That’s why the Police were notified. (…) The image is everyone’s right”.
Now that things have changed, complete this:
“It’s harder. It’s harder because they don’t have the material time. It is better to guard ourselves, to make them more interested in using the phones during classes only when required by the nature of that class. They are learning. After all, children are receptive. With difficulty, but in a relatively short time, not very long”.
How are things at high school?
In high school, however, things are not as simple.
“In my high school, located in a semi-urban community of approximately 10,000 inhabitants, the regulation regarding the prohibition of the use of mobile phones during classes is not uniformly applied at the level of the entire institution. There are classes and principals who take this rule more seriously, but in general no concrete measures are implemented to limit the use of phones. (…) The main difference is observed in the attitude and approach of teachers when they catch a student using the phone during class. The teachers are noticeably more demanding in this regard and treat the situation more seriously.”says Bogdan Gogan, secretary general of the National Council of Students.
On a theoretical level, the measure of banning the possession of telephones during working hours is a beneficial one, the Council members believe.
“We believe that the new regulations regarding the prohibition of mobile phones during classes and, in some schools, for the entire duration of the program, represent a necessary and welcome step in the direction of restoring discipline and increasing the quality of the educational act. In a context where phones are one of the biggest sources of distraction, the choice to eliminate digital temptation allows us to return lessons to real attention, encourage active student participation and support a climate of mutual respect between teachers and students. At the same time, we appreciate that the regulation provides exceptions for educational uses, which provides flexibility and recognizes the role of technology when it is used correctly.” emphasizes Bogdan Gogan.
What sanctions are faced by students who break the rules
According to the regulations of the Student Statute, for disciplinary violations students can be sanctioned by several methods, depending on the gravity of the act.
“They go from a reprimand to, depending on the severity, the suspension of the scholarship, the lowering of the grade for behavior and so on. Exmatriculation is not possible at our High School. Further, at the high school, there you can use the expulsion”, says Daniela Voinea, director of the “Sfinții Voevozi” Secondary School.
Can phones be confiscated?
If students use their phones during class, their devices may be confiscated.
“Failure to comply with the provisions regarding the use of telephones/other electronic communication equipment may lead to the equipment being taken over by the staff of the educational unit in order to hand it over, as the case may be, to the parents/legal representatives of minor primary beneficiaries or major primary beneficiaries according to the organization and operation regulations of the educational unit” is provided for in ROFUIP.
Daniela Voinea says: ,,.It’s not a wrong thing, as long as the regulations support it. The notion of confiscation cannot be used. Confiscation means not giving it back. That doesn’t happen.”
What is happening in other countries. Romania, the strictest at high school level
From August 2025, a law came into force in Finland, just like the one in Romania, which prohibits the use of mobile phones by students during lessons in all primary and secondary schools. Phones can only be used with the consent of the teacher and strictly for educational or health purposes. Denmark has also adopted a similar measure, and Sweden is to do the same from autumn 2026.
France is the first country in Europe to ban the use of phones during lessons, in primary and secondary classes, since 2018. In some schools, however, students are not required to hand over phones. They can keep them with them, but they are not allowed to use them In high schools, the rules are even more flexible: the decision is made at the level of the educational unit.
In Latin America, Chile passed a law that will allow students to use phones in class only if they have special educational requirements, if they have medical problems that require monitoring, or in an emergency. In the case of high school students, the law allows the educational unit to provide “spaces, moments or activities” where the phone is allowed.
