Overview

• Berlin’s education administration confirmed it will not implement a blanket mobile phone ban and will retain school-level rulemaking for the 2025/26 school year.
• Under Berlin’s model, each Schulkonferenz sets smartphone policies within the school and house rules with input from leadership, teachers, parents and student representatives.
• Brandenburg and Bremen have ordered phones to be switched off and stored during lessons or on campus; Hesse has banned private use of phones, tablets and smartwatches on school premises.
• Three Berlin district councillors have urged a universal ban, but student bodies and the GEW warn that strict prohibitions may stigmatize pupils and drive cyberbullying outside school supervision.
• Germany’s decentralized education framework continues to produce a patchwork of phone regulations as states navigate tensions between media literacy, classroom distraction and mental health concerns.