Overview

• After the summer break, Bremen, Hessen, Thüringen, Brandenburg and the Saarland broadly prohibited private smartphone use on school grounds, typically with allowances for emergencies, medical needs or supervised learning.
• The Standing Conference of Education Ministers has twice weighed a nationwide prohibition and declined to proceed, leaving policy to the Länder and, in many places, to individual school rules such as in‑bag requirements or “handyhotels.”
• The Federal Education Ministry says an expert commission will begin work soon and signals openness to setting a minimum age for access to social networks as part of modern youth‑media protection.
• Four organisations — Bundeselternrat, Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk, GMK and D64 — issued an open letter urging investment in media education, infrastructure and locally developed rules, warning that blanket bans risk deepening inequalities.
• Evidence cited in the debate includes UKE findings that about one in four 10‑ to 17‑year‑olds shows risky or addictive media use, and policymakers are watching international steps such as South Korea’s law banning devices during instructional time from March 2026.