Parliament of Swiss canton Fribourg votes to ban mobile phones at school

ZURICH, ‌Dec 18 (Reuters) - The parliament of the western Swiss ‍canton ‌of Fribourg on Thursday voted to ban children from ⁠using mobile phones at ‌school until they are about 15 years old.

With 67 votes in favour and 35 against, the legislature backed a ⁠proposal that would oblige students to turn off and put away ​mobile phones and other electronic devices ‌on school grounds and ⁠during off-site school activities.

"The ban aims to promote personal interaction at school, improve the school atmosphere and ​quality of life for students and teachers, and combat bullying and exclusion," the proposal said.

The ban, which covers students up to the age of about ​15, ‍must be set ​out in law by the canton's government, its executive branch, which had been against the proposal.

Fribourg's government noted that individual schools had already imposed significant curbs on the use of cell phones.

The parliamentary proposal also ⁠urged considering a ban for upper secondary and vocational training schools.

The Fribourg parliament's ​decision is the latest step taken at local level in Switzerland in recent years to restrict mobile phone use in schools.

Canton Fribourg ‌is mostly French-speaking and has a population of close to 350,000.

(Writing by Dave Graham, editing by John Revill)