Cell phone ban debate: philosopher Sloterdijk compares parents to drug dealers

Philosopher Peter Sloterdijk harshly criticizes parents who allow children and young people to use smartphones. He compares the devices to drugs and parents to drug dealers. In this context, he also questions the role of schools. Do we only want a “training” school or also an “educating” school? He classifies a ban on cell phones for children and young people in schools as an educational school. He believes a ban makes sense.

Ending the debate with drug classification

Sloterdijk told dpa that “things have been allowed to slide too much” in society. “Conditions have matured in schools that we can't be happy with. Cell phones should fall under the ban on drugs, then the debate would be superfluous.” In his opinion, this ban could not start soon enough, as withdrawal from any form of addiction is always extremely difficult.

He believes that parents have a particular duty: “Parents have an enormous share of responsibility – and an enormous failure because many parents behave like drug dealers themselves when they put these things in their children's hands. Once the child has become a smartphone addict, it's a huge relief for the parents because they don't have to spend as much time with it – the child now has a digital playmate.”

Regarding educational institutions, it is also ultimately a question of whether we want an educational or just an educational school: “The moment we accept that children also have a right to education, we must take their right to be protected from colonization by anonymous forces in the form of new media seriously. Anything else is like constantly opening the door to a burglar. We must not make it so easy for the media intruders who break into children's homes.” An educational school must exercise media control, and do so strictly, he explained.

If it is understood that hashish and other drugs must be excluded from school, this should also apply to smartphones, as these also have a drug quality. He explained: “They damage the brain and cause personality disorders without end. They are currently mystified as information media, but no boy or girl uses them that way. They are party drugs to give yourself a quick kick during the five-minute break.”

Social and political debate

There is currently a debate at state and federal level, as well as in the arts pages, about banning cell phones in schools and age restrictions for social media use. At state level, rules on the use of private devices such as smartphones, tablets, and smartwatches are being tightened in some cases or even incorporated into school laws in the first place. Schools that have not yet drawn up any rules on cell phone use during school hours are now obliged to make specific agreements. Federal Education Minister Prien is clearly in favor of stricter rules, but there have recently been signs of disagreement in the CDU/CSU camp. This could make agreements between the federal and state governments much more difficult.

The latest OECD report, for example, attempted to show the extent to which the well-being of children and young people is affected in the digital age. However, the editors of the report noted one thing above all: there are currently too few studies to be able to make clear, evidence-based statements about the impact of certain digital services. More reliable studies were called for.

(kbe)