New Zealand To Ban Cellphones In High Schools

Cellphones will be banned in schools across New Zealand, conservative Prime Minister Christopher Luxon revealed Friday, as his government looks to turn around the country’s plummeting literacy rates.

New Zealand’s schools once boasted some of the world’s best literacy scores, however, levels of reading and writing have dropped drastically to the point that some researchers fear there is a classroom “crisis”.

Luxon declared he would ban phones at schools within his first 100 days in office, adopting a policy trailed with mixed reactions in the United States, United Kingdom and France.

The move would stop disruptive behavior and help students focus, Luxon stated.

“We are going to ban phones across New Zealand in schools. We want our kids to learn and we want our teachers to teach,” he said.