Cyprus to Ban Schoolchildren From Using Mobile Phones

The Ministry of Education of the Republic of Cyprus has prohibited the use of mobile phones by schoolchildren in the country’s secondary schools. This means that students in gymnasiums and lyceums will be allowed to bring their phones to school, but they must keep them turned off at all times while on school premises, stated Cyprus’s Minister of Education, Athina Michaelidou, according to the Cyprus Mail.

This measure aims to increase students’ attention during lessons and to prevent the rise of antisocial behaviour. According to Athina Michaelidou, Cyprus will join several European countries in this decision, following the recommendations of UNESCO's educational agency.

"Obviously, the use of mobile phones distracts children from their lessons and is primarily associated with the rise of teenage delinquency," added the Cypriot official.

It should be noted that the decision to ban mobile phones in schools, approved by the Ministry of Education of Cyprus, still needs to be ratified by the country's parliament.

Cyprus is a highly "smartphone-saturated" country. Official data shows that there are just over 1.4 million mobile phones in operation on the island, more than the population, which is slightly less than 1 million people in government-controlled areas.

Additionally, The Gaze reported that Maria Sulyalina, head of the Ukrainian human rights organization "Almenda," received the prestigious "Civil Rights Defender of The Year 2024" award in Sweden. This award honours outstanding human rights defenders who advocate for civil and political rights at great personal risk. Sulyalina was recognized for her work documenting evidence of Russian war crimes against children in Ukraine.