France's education minister Jean-Michel Blanquer has announced the government's plan to ban mobile phones from schools completely.
At the moment, mobile phones are banned from classrooms - students are allowed access them at lunch or between lessons.
However, the new rule, which will come into force in September 2018, means that pupils won't be able to use their phones into school at all.
The ban will just affect children aged 11 to 15 - teenagers in sixth-form colleges will still be able to use their phones into school.
"These days the children don't play at break time anymore, they are just all in front of their smartphones and from an educational point of view that's a problem," the minister said on Sunday while appearing on Le Grand Jury TV.
"We are currently working on this [ban] and it could work in various ways.
"Phones may be needed for teaching purposes or in cases of emergency so mobile phones will have to be locked away."
