An Indigenous Tembe mother and daughters take photos on their smartphones outside a school in the Tenetehar Wa Tembe village, located in the Alto Rio Guama Indigenous territory of the Paragominas municipality in the Para state of Brazil, on May 30, 2023. Santana told journalists that children are going online at early ages, making it harder for parents to keep track of what they do, and that restricting smartphones at school will help them. — AP
SAO PAULO: Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Jan 13 signed a bill restricting the use of smartphones at school, following a global trend for such limitations.
The move will impact students at elementary and high schools across the South American nation starting in February. It provides a legal framework to ensure students only use such devices in cases of emergency and danger, for educational purposes, or if they have disabilities and require them.
