Saxony extends mobile phone ban: what schools need to know

From: Fabian Werner

Date: March 11, 2026 07:00

Since 10 March 2026 it has been clear: Saxony is extending the mobile phone ban at state schools to all year groups up to year eight. What previously applied only to primary schools will, from the summer holidays onwards, also affect lower secondary schools (Oberschulen) and grammar schools. For more than 2,000 Saxon schools, a very practical question now arises: how is this supposed to work in everyday life?

What exactly has Saxony decided?

Since the current school half-year, private smartphones have already been banned at Saxon primary schools. Education Minister Conrad Clemens (CDU) has now announced that this rule will be significantly extended. From the coming school year after the summer holidays, pupils in years 5 to 8 will also no longer be allowed to use their private devices. The ban applies exclusively to private use - digital media can continue to be used in lessons.

Clemens sees the step as part of a larger concept. He explicitly links the mobile phone ban to the ongoing debate around a social media ban for children under 14. In addition, Saxony is planning a media passport for years 5 to 8, in which topics such as disinformation, social media and online games are addressed in an age-appropriate way. The message: fewer private mobile phones, more media literacy.

Saxony is not alone in this step. Hesse has already created a statutory obligation with the smartphone protection zones since August 2025. In Schleswig-Holstein a ban on private mobile phone use at primary schools has applied since the 2023/24 school year, with planned extension to secondary schools. The topic is also being discussed at European level - EU education ministers put smartphone bans and age limits for social media access on the agenda in May 2025.

The figures: why schools must act now

The political decision has not come out of nowhere. It follows a series of studies that paint a worrying picture.

The current longitudinal study by DAK-Gesundheit and the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) - the seventh wave of surveys since the start of the pandemic - shows: more than 25 per cent of all 10- to 17-year-olds in Germany show risky or pathological social media use. That is around 1.3 million young people. Despite slight declines in the past year, the values are still well above the pre-pandemic level of 2019.

The OECD study "How's Life for Children in the Digital Age" rounds out the picture: 98 per cent of 15-year-olds in OECD countries own their own smartphone. So do 70 per cent of 10-year-olds. Six out of ten 15-year-olds exceed the recommended two-hour limit for screen time on school days - through leisure use alone. More than half of 15-year-olds spend over 30 hours per week online.

The Leopoldina - the National Academy of Sciences - put the debate onto a scientific footing in August 2025 with a 70-page discussion paper. The scientists' recommendation: the use of private smartphones at schools should be banned up to and including year 10. In addition, no social media accounts should be possible for children under 13, and only with parental consent between 13 and 15.

Nico Charlier, specialist in child and adolescent psychiatry in Berlin, brings the clinical perspective: in child and adolescent psychiatric practice there is a massive increase in psychiatric illnesses. Children who receive a smartphone have, as a rule, already had access to all kinds of content within the first two years - from pornographic to violent.

What really happens in the classroom

The statistics describe the problem at the macro level. But what does the smartphone actually mean in everyday school life? Four scenarios that teachers across Germany experience daily:

Hidden use. A pupil holds the smartphone under the desk and types a message. The teacher notices, interrupts the lesson, has a discussion. Three minutes of teaching time are gone - for a single situation. Alexander Kraft from the Schleswig-Holstein Ministry of Education describes the problem like this: children and young people cannot keep their hands off their phones even in lessons, secretly playing or exchanging messages. Extrapolated over a school day with six lessons, such interruptions can quickly cost 20 minutes of teaching time that never come back.

The social pressure. Between lessons most pupils pull out their smartphone. Anyone who doesn't have one or deliberately doesn't want to use one suddenly stands apart. Children and young people report feeling forced to use their phone in order not to be excluded. The ban removes this pressure from all pupils at the same time - no one has to justify themselves.

The liability problem. A teacher collects 30 smartphones and puts them in a box on the desk. During the break a device disappears. Value: over EUR 1,000. Who is liable? The teacher who collected them? The school? The school authority? This question is not conclusively settled in law - and that is precisely why many teachers are reluctant to collect devices. The teachers' union GEW rightly criticises that it should not be teachers' job to enforce the ban and resolve the resulting conflicts.

The notification. A smartphone vibrates in the pocket. The pupil knows that a message has arrived. From that moment, their attention is no longer on the lesson but on the question of what the message contains. A widely cited study from the University of Texas at Austin (Ward et al., 2017) demonstrated the so-called "brain drain" effect: simply the presence of a smartphone in one's field of vision lowers available cognitive performance - even when it is switched off. Not silenced, not turned over - it must be physically removed for the brain to use its full capacity.

The psychological effect: when the phone is gone, calm returns

What happens when smartphones consistently disappear from school life? The effects go far beyond less distraction.

Relief instead of restriction. This surprises many adults: children and young people often experience a clearly enforced phone ban not as punishment, but as relief. Why? Because for many the smartphone is long no longer a fun device - it is a source of permanent tension. The next message, the next story, the next reaction. Anyone who doesn't react misses something. Anyone who doesn't post becomes invisible. This pressure runs all day - in lessons, in breaks and on the playground.

When the smartphone lies in a safe, this pressure disappears completely for six hours. Not because someone forbids it, but because it is simply not available. No child has to justify why they aren't replying. No child has to decide whether to look at the phone or follow the conversation. The decision has already been made - and for many that is real relief.

FOMO disappears - for everyone at the same time. Fear of Missing Out is one of the strongest psychological drivers of smartphone use among teenagers. What's happening right now in the WhatsApp group? Has someone posted a story? Has my picture been liked? These thoughts run permanently in the background - even when the phone is in your pocket. The decisive thing about the phone ban: it only works if it applies to everyone. If a single pupil puts their phone away, they miss something. If all phones are in the safe, no one misses anything - because there is nothing to miss. FOMO only works when others are online. If no one is online, the pressure dissolves.

Comparison stops. Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat - these platforms thrive on users comparing themselves. Who has more followers? Whose outfit is better? Who was where at the weekend? For adults this is stressful. For 12-year-olds, who are only just developing their self-image, it can be devastating. Prof. Rainer Thomasius, study director of the DAK study and Medical Director of the German Centre for Addiction Issues in Children and Adolescents at UKE, sees a visible link between social media use and mental strain such as depression. A school day without a smartphone is a school day on which no child has to compare themselves with filtered images of others. Six hours in which one's own worth is not measured in likes.

Cyberbullying stops at the school gate. One of the most pressing problems at schools is cyberbullying - and it often happens precisely there: on the playground, in the classroom, during break. A photo is taken in secret and posted to a group. A screenshot from a chat is shown around. An offensive video is filmed during lessons. All of this requires a smartphone. When devices are securely stored, the tool for this form of violence is missing. That doesn't solve every conflict - but it removes from bullying its most important instrument.

Personal responsibility instead of external control. There is a big psychological difference between "the teacher takes my phone away" and "I lock my phone away myself". In the first case, defiance arises. In the second, responsibility. When a pupil places their smartphone in a safe themselves and chooses the code themselves, they make an active decision. They are not being controlled - they control themselves. That is precisely the self-regulation skill that Education Minister Clemens wants to strengthen in children. And it is a competence that has effects far beyond school: conscious handling of one's own media consumption.

Breaks become breaks again. Just observe a school playground at the long break. At many schools groups of teenagers stand together - each looking at their smartphone. Conversations take place alongside scrolling, often barely more than an exchange about what is currently on screen. Without smartphones, children talk to each other. They play. They move. They learn to resolve conflicts in direct conversation rather than by message. What sounds banal is at many schools no longer a given.

The DAK study examined for the first time the phenomenon of "phubbing" - a portmanteau of "phone" and "snubbing". The result: 35 per cent of teenagers feel ignored by other people's smartphone use. For a quarter, this has already led to social conflicts. Children frequently affected by phubbing show measurably higher values for loneliness, depression and anxiety. Parents report similar things: 29 per cent already feel ignored by their children.

Focus returns. The human brain is not built for multitasking - certainly not the developing brain of an adolescent. Every notification, every vibration, even the mere knowledge that the smartphone is within reach occupies cognitive resources. When the device lies in a safe in the corridor, it is really gone - not just silenced, not just turned face-down on the desk, but physically removed. Only then can the brain concentrate fully on the lesson. The capacity for deep concentration can be trained - but only when constant interruptions are absent.

Sleep that begins the day before. An aspect that is often overlooked: many teenagers use their smartphone late into the night. The DAK study shows that 40 per cent of parents do not adequately regulate the time their children spend on media. The consequence: children come to school overtired. A phone ban during school hours doesn't directly solve the evening problem - but it sends a signal. It shows children that there are times and places where the smartphone doesn't belong. This experience can carry over to the evening: if I don't need it for six hours at school, perhaps I don't need it until midnight in bed either.

What remains when the screen is dark? Perhaps the most important effect: children rediscover who they are without their smartphone. Not the follower count, not the latest story, not the response time to messages - but what they really can do, really think, really feel. A school day without a smartphone is not a lost day. It is a day on which young people have the chance to experience themselves without a digital filter.

The GEW's criticism: justified - but solvable

The teachers' union GEW (Gewerkschaft Erziehung und Wissenschaft) has sharply criticised Education Minister Clemens's move. GEW chief Claudia Maaß spoke of "pure profile-raising politics" and complained that school heads and teachers had learnt of the plans from the media. It remains unclear, she said, who is supposed to enforce the ban in everyday school life - given lesson cancellations, staff shortages and rising workloads.

This criticism hits a sore point. Because a phone ban only works if schools have a practical answer to a simple question: where do you put 30 smartphones per class?

In bags and rucksacks the devices are not securely kept - and the temptation to look at them in secret remains. Collection by teachers creates exactly the liability questions and conflicts the GEW warns of. Lockable cupboards or boxes require key management. None of these solutions are really practicable in everyday school life.

The solution must meet three criteria: it must be secure (no theft, no liability), it must work without effort for teachers, and it must promote pupils' personal responsibility rather than exerting control.

WardHub: smartphone safe with automatic code reset

It is for precisely this problem that we developed the WardHub - a compact smartphone safe made of 2 mm hardened steel that is wall-mounted in the classroom or corridor.

The principle is deliberately kept simple: each pupil locks their smartphone away themselves with a freely chosen PIN code. After the lesson they open the compartment - and the code resets automatically (Public Mode). Next time the next pupil chooses a new code. No collection, no key, no administration.

For teachers this means: zero effort. A master PIN allows emergency access to all compartments at any time - without disturbing the regular routine.

And for the pupils? They experience that they themselves are in control. They lock up, they unlock again. That isn't taking something away - that is taking responsibility. Exactly what we expect from young people.

What a school day with WardHub looks like

7:45 - arrival. Pupils enter the school building. The WardHubs hang on the wall in the corridor. Each pupil opens an empty compartment, places their smartphone inside, chooses a four-digit code, closes the door. Time taken: 10 seconds.

8:00 to 13:00 - lessons. No smartphones in pockets, no vibrations, no hidden glances under the desk. The teacher teaches. The pupils are on topic.

9:30 - long break. The pupils go to the playground. Without smartphones. They talk, play, move around. No phubbing, no comparison, no pressure.

13:00 - end of school. Pupils go to the WardHub, enter their code, take out their smartphone. The code resets automatically. The compartment is ready for the next day, the next pupil.

What the teacher notices: nothing. No collecting, no handing out, no key, no discussion, no liability. The whole process is in the pupils' hands.

Technical data

Dimensions: 200 × 134 × 70 mm
Weight: 1.8 kg
Material: 2 mm hardened steel, powder-coated, vandalism-resistant
Lock: electronic PIN code, water-protected (IP65)
Power: 3 × AAA batteries + USB-C emergency power
Mounting: 3 wall fixing points, material included, no specialist required
Surface: powder-coated, weather-resistant

What does the equipment cost?

The WardHub is available from EUR 82.24 net per unit. By way of comparison: a single theft of 30 pupils' smartphones can quickly cost over EUR 15,000. WardHub equipment for the same class is a fraction of that.

The purchase is eligible for funding under DigitalPakt 2.0 as digital infrastructure. Alternatively, financing can run via the relevant school authority. We are happy to support schools in matching it to the right funding programme.

Test free of charge

We provide schools with a test device free of charge and without obligation for 14 days. Test the WardHub in your school environment - and decide afterwards.

Telephone: 030 208 483 15
Email: schule@wardhub.de
Web: www.wardhub.de