– I think this debate is only the initial stage. In the long term, there will be quite stringent rules for this both nationally and internationally. I’m really just sitting back and waiting for more states in the US and EU to tighten up sharply, said parliamentary representative Peter C. Frølich.

– The health challenges associated with this are so great that they cannot be ignored from a political point of view, he said.

Frølich chaired a resolution committee at the national meeting and wanted the Conservative Party to adopt “cellphone-free schools”. The statement pointed out, among other things, that screen and social media use lead to poorer mental health, impaired ability to concentrate, and poorer reading skills.

However, after heated debate, all statements Frølich wanted were rejected.

– Rector’s Decree

Former knowledge minister Jan Tore Sanner was among those who blasted the proposal from the podium. He pointed out that, according to Høyre’s program, it would be the principal who would make the decision to ban cell phones in schools.

– There are discussions around the kitchen table, in the teacher’s lounge, in the classroom and at parent meetings. Leave the discussion there, he said from the podium.

Sanner believes the statement is not about yes or no to cell phones, but about “schools and parents’ responsibility or helplessness”.

Unge Høyre also vehemently opposed the statement, and some delegates feared that the matter should be resolved locally, rather than by national legislation passed in the Storting.

205 delegates ultimately voted to remove the point about free-moving schools from the statement, among them party leader Erna Solberg. 99 wants to keep it. Soon after, the entire statement was rejected.

16 year limit on social media?

The proposal by the resolutions committee chaired by Peter C. Frølich includes several controversial measures, including raising the social media age limit to 15 or 16 years. This particular proposal was eventually withdrawn.

A small portion of the committee also wants to regulate cell phone use in high schools.

The debate indicates that many of these proposals conflict with basic ideological beliefs about the extent to which the responsibility of the state extends and should intervene in the responsibilities of parents and teachers to care for children.