“Pause Smartphones for a While” — 10,000 Gyeonggi Elementary, Middle, and High School Students Take on the “Phone Free” Challenge

[Financial News] More than 10,000 elementary, middle, and high school students in Gyeonggi Province are expected to take part in “Phone Free: 100 Days of Miracles,” an initiative in which students voluntarily regulate their smartphone use. As France, Canada, Australia, Mexico, and other countries around the world successively introduce policies banning smartphone use in schools, a similar trend is expected to gain momentum in South Korea as well.
According to the Gyeonggi-do Office of Education on the 26th, more than 7,000 applications were submitted during online recruitment for elementary, middle, and high school students in Gyeonggi Province from the 1st to the 18th. Because some schools registered all of their students and some parents registered multiple children at the same time, Gyeonggi Province estimates that the actual number of participating students exceeded 10,000.
Gyeonggi Province launched the initiative to encourage students to regulate their own mobile phone use, foster an atmosphere conducive to studying, and strengthen communication among students and their self-regulation skills.

Students who began “100 Days of Miracles” on the 7th, when applications opened, set a personal daily smartphone-use limit and check and record each day whether they reached their goal. They also identify smartphone-use habits they want to change over the 100-day period and set specific goals, such as stopping smartphone use one hour before bedtime and putting their phones away during family meals. They record activities in three areas—reading, arts and culture, and sports—that they pursued as alternatives to smartphone use during periods when they did not use their phones.
Countries have begun restricting smartphone use in schools to protect minors’ right to study and strengthen their self-regulation skills. France banned smartphone use in middle schools last year and has extended the ban to high schools starting this month. In addition, the French Parliament passed a bill last month banning social media use by children under 15. Australia began restricting social media use by teenagers under 16 on December 10 last year. The Australian government introduced the world’s first social media regulations to reduce the negative effects of social media on the mental and physical health of children and teenagers. The United States and Canada are pursuing school smartphone bans, led by state and provincial governments.
After the “100 Days of Miracles” campaign concludes on December 15, the Gyeonggi-do Office of Education plans to hold a comprehensive results presentation. It will select 100 outstanding participants and offer them an opportunity next January to explore the history of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea (KPG).
[email protected] Jo Eun-hyo Reporter