Overview

• Federal Education Minister Karin Prien is presenting the panel in Berlin after a recent “Handygipfel” in Saxony kept the issue at the forefront of education policy.
• Germany’s federal states set school rules, resulting in a patchwork of policies that range from campus bans to school-level discretion.
• The national academy Leopoldina urges prohibiting smartphone use in schools up to and including grade 10 as a precautionary step.
• Medical and public‑health groups recommend giving children their own phones no earlier than age 9, preferably 12, with restricted internet and 1–2 hours of daily screen time for 12‑ to 16‑year‑olds.
• Research cited includes findings that bans improve social wellbeing and that phones can impair focus even when switched off, while the OECD backs careful, goal‑oriented use to support learning without distraction.