Across Europe, schools are tightening restrictions on smartphones. But not all phone bans reflect the same idea of education.
The Netherlands and Italy are taking notably different approaches.
In 2024, the Netherlands introduced a national “agreement”1 limiting smartphones and other devices in schools. The goal was to reduce distraction and improve the school environment, while still allowing schools flexibility and maintaining space for educational use.
Italy’s 2025 directive2 goes further. The new rules prohibit smartphone use during school hours even for educational purposes in most secondary schools, allowing exceptions only in specific technical and telecommunications programs.
The difference is important because the two policies are based on very different understandings of what digital education should look like.
Reducing distraction without rejecting digital tools
The first Dutch monitoring results3 suggest the restrictions are having positive effects. Schools reported improvements in concentration, calmer classrooms, and better social interaction between students during breaks.
At the same time, the Dutch data also reveals something more nuanced.
Even after the agreement came into effect, 43.5% of schools still described educational use of devices as an important part of teaching practice — an increase compared to earlier measurements. Meanwhile, most schools reported that educational device use had either stayed the same or decreased.
This points to a key distinction:
Dutch schools appear to be separating constant personal smartphone access from intentional educational technology use. The problem is not necessarily digital tools themselves, but the uncontrolled presence of personal devices in the classroom.
Italy’s stricter approach
Italy’s directive takes a broader position.
Rather than focusing mainly on distraction, the policy effectively treats smartphones as incompatible with learning in most educational contexts. Educational use is largely excluded outside specialized technical programs.
This risks conflating two separate issues:
- recreational smartphone use
- guided digital education
That distinction matters because smartphones are not only distraction devices. They are also communication tools, cameras, research tools, and one of the primary ways young people experience digital life.
The challenge for schools is therefore not simply whether devices should be present, but how digital technologies should be integrated and regulated.
A broader digital education question
There is strong evidence that unrestricted smartphone use can negatively affect attention and learning. But digital education is also about teaching students how to navigate digital environments critically and responsibly.
The Dutch results suggest that schools may be able to reduce distraction while still preserving space for intentional and structured educational technology use.
That is different from arguing for unrestricted phone access. In fact, the Dutch data supports clearer boundaries in schools.
But it also suggests that limiting distraction does not necessarily require abandoning digital education altogether.
The question that remains
The Dutch discussion is also moving beyond the classroom itself. Researchers are now investigating possible unintended effects outside school4, including whether restrictions influence students’ digital habits after school hours.
This is an important reminder that banning phones during lessons does not automatically solve broader digital wellbeing challenges.
The real question may not be whether smartphones belong in schools, but whether schools can create healthier digital environments while still preparing students to live in a digital world.
- https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/voortgezet-onderwijs/mobiele-apparaten-in-de-klas ↩︎
- https://www.mim.gov.it/documents/20182/0/m_pi.AOODPIT.REGISTRO+UFFICIALE%28U%29.0003392.16-06-2025+%282%29.pdf/80241c55-1b9e-1b8b-46b7-599854ceef58?version=1.0&t=1750095941877 ↩︎
- https://kohnstamminstituut.nl/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/1147-Eindrapport-Monitoring-landelijke-afspraak-mobiele-telefoons-en-andere-devices-in-de-klas.pdf ↩︎
- https://www.nwo.nl/en/projects/olhno57449. ↩︎