German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Monday voiced support for banning mobile phones in primary schools.
In an interview on public broadcaster ARD, Merz said he agreed with the idea when asked about it.
The chancellor added, however, that restricting access to social media until the age of 16 would be much harder to enforce.
He said he had great sympathy for countries that had already introduced such rules.
“Children need to learn to read, write and do maths not play around on their mobile phones,” Merz said.
A recent survey by Germany’s info Institute out found that 85 per cent of German adults are in favour of restricting access to social media to those 16 and older.
