Fighting the smartphone ‘invasion’: the French village that voted to ban scrolling in public
Seine-Port is introducing restrictions on phone use in streets, shops and parks – but young people say there’s little else to do Angelique Chrisafis Angelique Chrisafis in Seine-Port @achrisafis Sat 10 Feb 2024 05.00 GMT
A picture of a smartphone with a red line through it serves as a warning in the window of a hairdresser’s shop in a French village that has voted to ban people scrolling on their phones in public. “Everyone is struggling with too much screen time,” said Ludivine, a cardiology nurse, as she had her hair cut into a bob, leaving her phone out of sight in her bag. “I voted in favour, this could be a solution.”
Seine-Port, in the Seine-et-Marne area south of Paris, with a population of fewer than 2,000 people, last weekend voted yes in a referendum to restrict smartphone use in public, banning adults and children from scrolling on their devices while walking down the street, while sitting with others on a park bench, while in shops, cafes or eating in restaurants and while parents wait for their children in front of the school gates. Those who might check their phone’s map when lost are instead being encouraged to ask for directions.
First off, the way this is discribed is an intrusion on a way of life/ peoples behaviour, and I personally feel it crosses a line.
banning adults and children from scrolling on their devices while walking down the street, while sitting with others on a park bench, while in shops, cafes or eating in restaurants and while parents wait for their children in front of the school gates. Those who might check their phone’s map when lost are instead being encouraged to ask for directions.
What should drive a discussion about digital media are the following questions:
- Why are young people and children especially drawn to digital devices?
- How does peer pressure affect parents’ choices when buying a mobile device for their kids? (e.g.: children being bullied in schools for not owning a smartphone)
- Why are people becoming addicted to digital technology?
- Which design choices are developers making to make software addicting? How can we stop that from happening?
- How can an addicted person be supported? … and probably many more that I can’t think of right now
The policy doesn’t address any of these. Worst case scenario it communitcates to addicted people that their behaviour is unacceptable, creating an unneccessary additional burden.
