Guide · Phone-free school
Since the 2025 school year, schools in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation and in Flanders must ban smartphone use. What the rules say, the options available and a 4-step method.
Updated
Writing the ban into the school rules is the first step. Enforcing it every day, without staff spending their days confiscating phones, takes a simple routine and a simple tool.
Two decrees, depending on which Community your school belongs to.
Wallonia + French-speaking Brussels
Flanders
Both decrees side by side: see the compliance page
Each approach has its strengths. The right choice depends on the size of the school and how much the team can take on.
Strength : No purchase, can start right away.
Limit : Repeated conflicts with pupils, lost time, and the school is liable if a phone is lost or damaged.
Strength : Simple and cheap.
Limit : Only covers lesson time: breaks and lunch stay open. The teacher is responsible for the phones.
Strength : Phones stay out of reach all day.
Limit : High cost, space and installation; queues at entrances and exits.
Strength : Pupils keep their phone with them, in a closed pouch that an adult opens on a base at the end of the day. No confiscation.
Limit : Requires a purchase (or rental) and a routine at entrances and exits.
The method we follow with schools. The documents mentioned are part of the Back-to-School Pack, included with every order.
Write the ban and its exceptions (teaching use, medical reasons) into your regulations, using the model clause provided.
Send the parent letter before launch: why, how, and how to reach their child in an emergency.
One pouch per pupil, 5 to 10% spare, and one unlocking base included per 100 pouches.
Train the team in a few minutes with the starter guide, then review after the first weeks.
From the first question to the next school year: one contact person, in French or Dutch, and our own customisation workshop in Belgium.
Within 24 business hours
Before you order
When you order
At launch
During the year
94%
of first-year secondary pupils in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation say they have their own phone, against 59% in the last year of primary (#Génération2024, Média Animation and CSEM, 2024).
57%
of Belgian 15-year-olds say they are distracted in at least some maths lessons by other pupils using digital devices (OECD, PISA 2022).
Tell us how many pupils are involved: you receive a detailed quote excluding VAT within 24 business hours, unlocking bases included (1 per 100 pouches).