Back to school for kids without their phones in France

PARIS - Texting under the table should be a thing of the past when French children return to class on Monday following a nationwide ban on mobile phones in schools.

The ban, a campaign pledge of President Emmanuel Macron's, was brought in under a law passed in July which also banishes tablets and smartwatches from French primary and junior high schools.

High schools, taking students aged 15 to 18, will also be allowed to initiate partial or total bans as they reopen after the summer break, though they will not be obligatory.