Retirar os telemóveis das escolas é importante — mas não chega.

Lately, there’s been a lot of talk about the decision by many schools to ban mobile phone use during school hours. It's a measure that makes sense, and in most cases, it comes from the right place: protecting students' focus, improving the classroom environment, and encouraging real, face-to-face interaction.

Yes, it makes sense.But we also need to be clear: we can’t fall into the illusion that this, by itself, solves the problem.

Here are a few reasons why this issue deserves deeper reflection:

1. Taking phones away doesn't teach anything.

Removing mobile phones stops the immediate use, but it doesn’t build understanding. It doesn’t teach what an algorithm is, what misinformation looks like, or how digital addiction works. It doesn’t help students recognize when they’re emotionally dependent on likes or notifications. It doesn’t prepare anyone to deal with the online world once the device is back in their hands — which, inevitably, happens every day after school.

2. The digital world is still out there.

Social media, games, short videos — all of it continues to be part of young people's lives.And if schools aren’t helping them navigate that world, who will?Parents often lack the time or the tools. And the platforms themselves have little interest in promoting conscious use.Banning is easy. Educating is harder — but that’s what truly makes a difference.

3. Banning without explanation can create resistance.

When a rule is imposed without giving space to understand the why, it usually leads to conflict, resentment, or simply… disobedience.Helping students think critically about their digital habits is often more effective than relying on punishment. It’s not about “to ban or not to ban” — it’s about banning with purpose, and pairing it with a solid educational approach.

4. The phone is a symptom — not the cause.

Many young people turn to their phones because they feel unmotivated, isolated, anxious, or because they simply don’t find other ways to express themselves or feel connected — at school or outside it.If we remove the phone but don’t look at what it was covering up, we miss a serious opportunity for intervention.

5. The risk isn’t just in school.

Most overuse — and most risks — happen outside of school. At night, alone, in their bedrooms, with no supervision. So any strategy that’s limited to school hours is, by nature, incomplete.We need to think as a community — involving families, local organizations, public campaigns.This is a collective issue.

6. We’re missing the chance to raise digital citizens.

We live in a digital world. Young people will live in it even more than we do.If we’re not teaching them what digital presence is, what online identity and data privacy mean, what responsibility in the digital space looks like — we’re leaving them exposed to forces they don’t yet understand. It’s like sending them onto a highway without ever teaching them how to cross the street.

In summary:Removing phones from schools can be an excellent first step.But it will only be truly effective if it’s followed by an educational approach that’s conscious, practical, and ongoing.

Otherwise, it’s just a temporary silence.The digital world doesn’t disappear — it waits outside, exactly the same.

And our role, as a society, can’t just be to hide the phone. It must be to raise young people who know how to use it — without being used by it.

Solution

For the removal of mobile phones from schools to have real impact, it must be paired with genuine education around conscious digital use.That means integrating digital literacy into the school curriculum, creating space for open conversations about social media, addiction, privacy and digital well-being, and actively involving families and communities in the process.

We need to develop young people’s critical, emotional and social skills so they can understand and manage their relationship with technology — both in and out of school.

More than just controlling access, the real goal is to raise responsible, informed users who can live in the digital world… without getting lost in it.