Starting in October 2026, smartphones will be completely banned in Mexican primary schools throughout the entire school day.
The Council of National Educational Authorities (CONAEDU) unanimously approved an agreement prepared by the Secretariat of Public Education (SEP). The measure covers all levels — from primary school to higher education — and is being introduced after a national consultation in which more than 565 thousand educators took part.
In primary and secondary school, the ban applies throughout the entire school shift: the device must be left in a backpack or handed in for storage. In high school and higher education institutions, the rules are drawn up by the educational community itself — ranging from a complete ban to limited use in certain situations. In parallel, information campaigns, school assemblies and class hours are being held to explain the goals of the new measure: to improve concentration, improve communication and reduce the spillover of conflicts from social media into real life.
The rationale was the results of a survey of teachers: 81 percent spoke in favour of clear rules. This is consultation data, not a controlled study, so the level of evidence remains low. So far there is not a single long-term observation of academic performance or mental health of students after the introduction of such measures in Mexico. It is unclear exactly how compliance will be monitored in large schools and what will happen to children who need a phone for a safe journey home.
The decision exposes the tension between the growing digital dependence of teenagers and the task of preserving live attention in the classroom. A national norm may make the work easier for some educators, but shift additional burden onto others — those who will have to monitor compliance and resolve conflicts. In schools with different levels of resources, the effect will be uneven.
The main question now is not whether the ban will be introduced, but how schools will manage to turn the freed-up time into a real improvement in learning, rather than simply another item in the rulebook.
