Schools to Ban Smartphones During Breaks and Lunch Starting Fall Semester in Pilot Program

Let us look at our next news item.

It is about phone-free schools.

When I was in school, smartphones did not exist.

However, students these days almost all have smartphones.

Starting from the upcoming fall semester, some schools will implement phone-free policies that completely restrict smartphone use.

This will not apply everywhere.

The offices of education in four cities and provinces—Gangwon, Gyeonggi, Daegu, and Jeonbuk—will select and operate "phone-free" pilot schools starting next semester.

The initiative aims to reduce smartphone use throughout overall school life by expanding restrictions beyond just class hours to include recess and lunchtime.

One provincial office of education has selected 10 elementary, middle, and high schools along with 3 kindergartens for the pilot program, planning to provide 3 million won to each school.

The Ministry of Education will also select 200 willing schools to run pilot programs.

It plans to expand this to 400 schools next year.

We will have to see what kind of impact phone-free schools will have.

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