ZAGREB, 28 Oct (Hina) - Following the recommendation of the City of Zagreb, 100 primary schools in the city have introduced a ban on mobile phones, with others are planning to do so. Schools report more student interaction, better focus, and a drop in digital peer violence, Deputy Mayor Danijela Dolenac said.
"Most children have adapted quickly to the new rules. According to teachers, the school is noisier, but in a positive way, because attention is no longer on screens but on conversations with peers," Dolenac said at a press conference.
At the start of this school year, primary schools received a recommendation from the City of Zagreb to ban the use of mobile phones in schools. On 27 October, a survey was conducted to assess the implementation of the measure.
Dolenac said the positive effects can be divided into three areas: greater social interaction among students, improved quality of teaching and academic results, and less digital violence among children.
She emphasised that this is an important step, but that it does not solve the entire problem.
We Can! presents bill on digital protection of children
We Can! MP Ivana Kekin presented the Bill on Digital Protection of Children.
The new legislation would regulate the use of mobile devices in primary schools at the national level. Children would still be allowed to bring their phones to school, but they would have to switch them off and store them safely upon arrival. Exceptions would only be allowed for medical needs, Kekin said.
Another proposal involves requiring schools to provide filtered school networks, so that classroom internet access blocks social media and non-educational content.
The bill would also introduce an age verification and parental consent system for social media use. Children under 15 would be allowed to create profiles only with explicit parental consent. Platforms would be required to implement effective, safe, and privacy-respecting methods for age verification -- without collecting personal data, submitting documents, or compromising privacy.
Furthermore, the bill establishes a system for preventing and responding to digital violence. Platforms would be obliged to clearly display messages about violence prevention, provide children with simple reporting mechanisms for harmful content, and remove such content without delay. The state would be responsible for providing education and psychological support in schools for children, parents, and teachers.
Kekin noted that children stand little chance against social media algorithms designed to attract their attention and create addiction.
"Children between the ages of 9 and 15 spend more than three hours a day on screens and social media. In Croatia, more than 70% of older primary school students spend over three hours daily online, and one-third of children experience online violence at least once a month, while a quarter are perpetrators themselves. These statistics are alarming, and until now, the state had no law protecting children in the digital space," she said.
"The digital world must not be the wild west of childhood, but a space for healthy development, creativity, and connection -- but only if we establish clear rules that protect what is most important: children's attention, self-esteem, and mental health," Kekin said.
