Mexico's classroom cellphone ban takes effect, as some parents raise safety fears

As of 8:43 a.m. ET, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026

Mexico's new limits on student cellphone use in schools took effect Tuesday, Nov. 3. The government says the rules will help students focus. Some parents in violent parts of the country say the ban could cut them off from their children in an emergency.

President Claudia Sheinbaum backed the measure. Education Secretary Mario Delgado said education chiefs from all 32 of Mexico's states approved it, according to Mexico's Public Education Ministry (SEP).

What the rules say

The rules come from a SEP agreement published in Mexico's official gazette, the Diario Oficial de la Federación, on Sept. 22, the Mexican newspaper El Economista reported. They apply to public and private schools.

In early education, preschool, elementary and middle school, students may not use phones or other personal devices during the school day. That includes classrooms and recess, SEP said.

There are exceptions. Phones may be used for planned lessons under a teacher's guidance. They may also be used for personal emergencies, disability and accessibility, health needs, or special needs of a school community, El Economista reported. Students can still carry their phones on the way to school, The Associated Press reported.

High schools will each set their own rules through talks with their school communities. Universities are being asked to promote "critical" and responsible use of technology, SEP said.

"We want to bring back socializing in the schoolyards, conversations in the hallways, concentration and friendships in the classroom," Delgado said in a SEP statement. He said the goal is not to keep students away from technology but to encourage responsible use.

Parents' concerns

Some parents worry about their children's safety. According to the children's rights coalition REDIM, about 1 in 10 Mexicans aged 17 and under were victims of crimes involving organized crime in the first half of this year, the AP reported.

Francisco Ortiz, Sinaloa state representative of the National Union of Parents, told the AP he did not think parents would accept their children having no way to communicate. He said the rules "go against parental authority."

Benigno Gómez, a father from Reynosa in Tamaulipas state, told the AP it was "a little difficult" that students would not have a phone in a dangerous situation.

In Escuinapa, in southern Sinaloa, a bus carrying more than a dozen high school students was shot at on Oct. 22, the AP reported. Only the driver was hurt. One mother told the AP that hearing her daughter's voice by phone after the attack calmed her. She said "the safety of our children comes first."

Mexican authorities had not commented on these concerns, the AP reported. Instead, they have focused on the harm phones can do.

Support for the ban

Israel Sánchez, president of the National Union of Parents, called the decision progress, the AP reported. He said the government should run an awareness campaign for parents and train teachers.

Lucía Magis-Weinberg, a University of Washington researcher who studies technology and young people, told the AP that technology is "a double-edged sword."

A global trend

Schools in 114 countries ban cellphones, according to UNESCO data cited by the AP. In Latin America, Ecuador, Brazil, Chile, Bolivia and Costa Rica have some controls. In the United States, some states have bans.