A French law is set to bar cellphone use by primary and middle school students, an effort to cut down on distractions in class and encourage play or reading during recess.

PARIS—Solal Paroux’s friends all have smartphones, and the 12-year-old Parisian has been needling his parents to get him one too. But his parents are resisting.

And now they have the law on their side.

When school starts up in September, a new French law will ban students ranging roughly from ages 3 to 15 from using smartphones anywhere on school grounds, with only narrow exceptions.

The law is one of the most sweeping attempts yet to address growing concerns among parents and educators that a generation of children is growing up addicted to the mobile devices in their pockets.

“Children don’t have the maturity” for smartphones, said Valérie Paroux, Solal’s mother. “Some adults don’t either.”

France’s education minister, Jean-Michel Blanquer, says the ban, which applies to the French equivalent of preschool through ninth grade, is intended to remove distractions during class and to encourage children to read a book or play outside during recreation. He says he hopes the law will serve as a symbolic message to both children and adults beyond school.

“We’re not seeking to reject technological progress—that would be absurd—but rather to master it, to make sure man is the master of the machine,” said Mr. Blanquer, who himself has two smartphones. “It all begins with education.”

In recent months, complaints that big tech firms’ products are too addictive, particularlyfor children, have started to resonate in Silicon Valley. Facebook Inc. earlier this month said it would start offering tools to show users how long they use its service and alert them to take a break.

Apple Inc. AAPL 0.23%and Alphabet Inc.’s GOOGL -2.06%Google each also plans to introduce similar tools into new operating systems for iPhones and Android phones. Apple’s “Screen Time” system will enable parents remotely to monitor the apps their children use and limit their time on devices. Continue reading “France Takes On Cellphone Addiction With a Ban in Schools “ →