Portugal Could Extend Smartphone Ban to Teenagers This Summer

Portugal's Education Ministry is preparing to expand the nationwide smartphone ban to older students after conducting a fresh survey of school principals throughout the country. The decision on whether to extend the prohibition beyond primary and lower-secondary levels will be announced during the summer holiday period, according to Secretary of State for Education Alexandre Homem Cristo, who confirmed the timeline to journalists this week.

The move follows a year of enforced restrictions for younger pupils — a policy that has generated measurable improvements in classroom behavior, socialization patterns, and disciplinary incidents across Portuguese schools. Now officials want to determine whether teenagers in upper grades should face the same restrictions.

Why This Matters

• Timing: A verdict on extending the ban to 7th through 12th grade students arrives after classes end, giving schools summer months to prepare.

• Current Rules: Since the 2024/25 academic year, students up to 6th grade cannot use smartphones anywhere on school grounds. Basic phones without internet access are allowed for emergency contact only.

• Survey Results: Previous Ministry inquiries found 60% of principals reported improvements in school climate after implementing restrictions.

What the New Survey Will Measure

The Portugal Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation is launching its second major inquiry into smartphone policies. School directors will be asked to assess the impact of the total ban that entered into force in September 2024 for 1st through 6th grade students.

Officials want concrete data on whether the prohibition has delivered the benefits observed in pilot programs. The original recommendation — issued two years ago — became mandatory when the 2024/25 academic year began after 79% of primary schools and 41% of lower-secondary schools voluntarily adopted smartphone-free policies.

Results from that earlier phase were striking: teachers and staff reported fewer bullying incidents, reduced indiscipline, increased physical activity during breaks, higher library usage, and more peer-to-peer interaction. The Ministry concluded that converting the recommendation into a legal prohibition would amplify these gains.

"We saw clear advantages in moving from recommendation to prohibition," Homem Cristo said, explaining that the upcoming survey follows the same methodology to determine whether older students would benefit similarly.

How the Ban Works Now

Portugal's current smartphone policy operates on a tiered system:

Primary and Lower-Secondary (Grades 1–6): Total ban across all school premises, including playgrounds and cafeterias. Students may bring basic feature phones for parental communication in exceptional cases, but devices with internet connectivity are forbidden.

Upper-Secondary (Grades 7–9): No outright ban exists, but schools have introduced measures to discourage and restrict use. Many institutions require devices to be stored in lockers during class hours.

High School (Grades 10–12): Students participate in developing responsible-use guidelines, with schools expected to involve pupils in rule-setting rather than imposing top-down bans.

A recent report from PLANAPP — the Portugal Public Policy Planning and Assessment Center — noted that enforcement proves more challenging in large schools or campuses serving multiple grade levels, particularly when staff resources are limited.

Impact on Parents and Students

The policy enjoys widespread support among Portuguese families. A Netsonda survey revealed that 81% of parents with school-age children worry about smartphones harming academic performance, and 83% of Portuguese adults back the ban for younger students.

International research cited in Ministry documents suggests modest academic gains, especially for students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, when smartphone restrictions are enforced. However, the most significant improvements appear in non-academic areas: reduced distraction, calmer classrooms, and healthier social dynamics.

Portuguese students reported being distracted by classmates using digital devices in mathematics lessons, with affected pupils scoring an average of 27 points lower on PISA tests — equivalent to losing a full year of schooling. The ban aims to eliminate this "distractor effect" and restore focus to classroom instruction.

Meanwhile, teachers have observed that students now spend break times playing physical games, conversing face-to-face, and visiting school libraries rather than scrolling through social media feeds. These behavioral shifts contribute to an environment more conducive to learning, even if direct causation between the ban and improved test scores remains scientifically inconclusive.

What Comes Next for Older Students

If the Ministry opts to extend the prohibition, Portugal would join a growing number of European nations restricting smartphone access for teenagers. France has banned devices for students up to age 15 since 2018, with plans requiring phones to be deposited at school entrances. Italy reinforced its classroom ban in 2024, while the Netherlands prohibited smartphones in lessons for all basic-education students. Research from Radboud University in the Netherlands found that 21% of students experienced fewer distractions after smartphone restrictions took effect, while 75% of secondary schools noted substantial improvements in student concentration.

The National Union of Teachers Licensed by Polytechnics and Universities (Spliu) in Portugal has advocated extending the ban through 12th grade, citing concerns about "abusive or subversive use" of devices during instruction and assessment. The union suggests installing classroom lockers where students can deposit powered-off phones upon entry and retrieve them after lessons.

Other teacher organizations acknowledge the problems smartphones create but emphasize that prohibition alone won't solve everything. They argue for digital literacy education and supervised instruction on responsible technology use, warning that unsupervised usage outside school could simply shift the problem rather than eliminate it.

What Happens This Summer

Portugal's decision — expected in June or July — will clarify whether the country extends its smartphone restrictions to high school students or maintains its current tiered approach. For families planning the next school year, the Ministry's summer announcement will determine whether teenagers continue setting their own rules or face the same prohibition already applied to younger siblings.