Gyeonggi Province Northern Region 'Phone-Free School Student Joint Declaration Ceremony'...Sprouting 'Phone-Free Home'

The Gyeonggi Province Office of Education (Superintendent An Min-seok) held the 'Phone-Free School Student Joint Declaration Ceremony' at the Northern Office on the 2nd, following the Southern Office event. The ceremony was attended by approximately 300 people, including students from phone-free practice schools, teachers, and parents.

The declaration ceremony was organized to enable students to self-regulate their smartphone usage, develop healthy digital lifestyle habits, and expand the phone-free practice culture to schools and homes.

The event proceeded in the following order: ▲Educational theater reflecting the meaning of the phone-free policy ▲Sharing the current status of phone-free policy implementation ▲Presentations of practice cases from schools, homes, and students ▲Awarding plaques to practice schools ▲Student joint declaration.

In particular, Lee Ryu-jin, a student representative from Uijeongbu Girls' High School practicing phone-free lifestyle, introduced her own methods that can be implemented daily: ▲Setting usage time limits by app category ▲Using an alarm clock instead of a smartphone ▲Placing smartphones in a separate space when not in use ▲Carrying a book and reading whenever possible.

The student said she was most worried that contact with friends would decrease when practicing phone-free, but in reality, as communication through smartphones decreased, she found herself more focused on conversations with friends during their time together. She explained that as face-to-face conversations and sincere dialogues increased, her relationships with friends became even closer.

Superintendent An Min-seok encouraged the students, saying, "Practicing phone-free may not be easy. However, the very act of taking on a difficult challenge by yourselves is meaningful and valuable."

He also addressed parents, saying, "As the Phone-Free School is rapidly expanding in schools, now is the time to extend it to the 'Phone-Free Home.' I hope parents will demonstrate reducing smartphone usage at home first."