Overview

• Saarland’s parliament approved a law prohibiting private smartphones and smartwatches for pupils in grades 1–4 while still allowing devices to be carried to school.
• The ban aims to reduce cyberbullying, secret recordings and social isolation and will be paired with state-leased tablets for students from grade 3 onward.
• Niedersachsen’s SPD-Green government rejects a blanket prohibition and leaves handset rules to individual schools despite a CDU proposal for uniform restrictions.
• Early adopters like Kiel’s Max-Tau School have enforced smartphone-free days since October 2024 and report higher student concentration and renewed peer interaction.
• Pending legislation in Hessen and sustained criticism from the Deutscher Lehrerverband underscore an ongoing national debate on balancing technology use with digital literacy and pedagogical freedom.