Overview

• Berlin’s Bildungsverwaltung confirmed on August 17 that each school conference will set its own smartphone rules rather than imposing a uniform ban.
• Hamburg’s CDU announced plans to amend the state school law to prohibit student handset use through ninth grade and give teachers clear legal authority.
• Reporting from Görlitz illustrates stark differences in enforcement, with some schools confiscating devices and summoning parents for violations.
• Länder such as Bremen, Brandenburg, Hesse, Bavaria and Thuringia have already enshrined uniform smartphone restrictions in their school statutes.
• The Leopoldina’s mid-August discussion paper recommending that children under 13 avoid social-media accounts continues to inform policy arguments.