French lawmakers vote to ban mobile phones in schools

French lawmakers have done something that might cause a revolution in America, or at least a massive wave of emotional breakdowns among high school students.

The lower house of parliament voted Thursday to ban mobile phones in public schools, reports The Local.

It's "a law for the 21st century, a law for addressing the digital revolution," explained Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer.

A full 90 percent of French students ages 12-17 own a mobile phone, a 2016 survey said.

TRENDING: Voters blame Biden for border crisis, ready to punish Democrats, poll says

But teachers have complained pupils are conversing by text messages and chatting on social media instead of taking part in class.

"The law being proposed [the approval is preliminary] would require primary and junior high students to keep their phones in backpacks or otherwise out of sight," the report said.

There's no specified punishment, and lawyers say it doesn't allow teachers to confiscate the units, because they're not a threat.

But the leader of President Emmanuel Macron's Republic on the Move party, Richard Ferrand, said the objective was to teach the importance of limiting phone use.

"When, on a playground, you see young people next to each other all staring at their phones," he said, the result is broken "camaraderie and sharing."

Many of the nation's schools already had required phones to be hidden, or turned in, during class.

Critics said the law wouldn't do much at all.