Gaston Ternes

The new school year is beginning. And with it comes the same question once again: what needs to change in our schools? The 2025 PISA results reveal weak reading skills among our 15-year-olds. And the answer seems to have been found quickly: less smartphone use, fewer social media, more restrictions. But are we really already on the road to a solution?

But are we really already on the road to a solution?

Children spend too much time in front of screens. Social media affects their concentration, their well-being and the way they see themselves. PISA also shows that digital distractions at school can come at the expense of academic performance.

So: take away the smartphone. Problem solved?

I have my doubts.

Yes, children need boundaries. But we often have the same reflex: when we cannot solve a problem directly, we put a plaster over it.

Weak reading skills? An action plan.

Too much time on the phone? A ban.

Poor results? Another reform.

And so every problem gives rise to a new rule. Every rule to more control. And every new control to another administrative task.

Because we too easily confuse doing something with solving something.

Introducing a new measure is easy. Motivating a child who has lost the desire to learn is harder. Supporting an overwhelmed family is no easier.

Above all, it takes one thing: time.

And PISA raises another question: how much weight should we give to a test that measures performance in a language which is the mother tongue in many countries, but a foreign language for many of our pupils?

PISA also shows, by the way, that our pupils are strong when it comes to digital learning.

Are we now going to undermine that strength with a ban?

We live in a world of the “click”:

Question. Click. Solution!

But education does not work like that.

A rule cannot replace trust.

Control cannot replace responsibility.

And reform cannot replace relationships.

And one thing is certain: none of these measures will make a child more motivated.

And what about us adults?

We tell our children: “Spend less time on your phone.”

But how often do we ourselves look at our screens while someone is talking to us?

Children do not necessarily do what we tell them to do.

But they do what we show them.

Perhaps that is the most important lesson of this new school year.

A rule can take a smartphone away.

But education is about much more than that.

Education means learning to read, to think, to distinguish, to argue – and to take responsibility.

That is why we need more than bans.

We need time.

Patience.

Conversation.

And perhaps also the courage not to invent a new rule immediately simply because we have not yet found a solution.

Because a rule tells a child what not to do.

Education teaches them why, and how to do better.

The new school year is for the children.

But the lesson is for us.