Encourage schools to organize sports, arts, and folk games during recess to limit cell phones.

On the morning of September 18, the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City organized a workshop on “Strengthening the building of a healthy school environment, not using mobile phones during recess”. The workshop aimed to find a common voice among schools, parents, students and experts to prepare for the implementation of a plan to limit mobile phones during recess.

According to the draft, the implementation will be carried out in two phases: Phase 1, from October 2025 to the end of the first semester of the 2025-2026 school year, will be piloted at 16 schools in 16 clusters in the area; Phase 2, from January 2026, will be applied simultaneously at all general education institutions.

Dr. Nguyen Van Hieu, Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, spoke at the workshop.

Accordingly, each school must organize at least three alternative activities during recess such as sports (mini basketball court, badminton, shuttlecock kicking, etc.), arts and creativity (small stage corner, school radio, outdoor reading, etc.) and folk games (o an quan, long nhan len may, tug of war, capture the flag, etc.). Students will be encouraged to participate in at least one group activity instead of using their phones for personal entertainment.

“Currently, people of all ages are somewhat dependent on their phones. For students, phones are essential for looking up information and contacting their parents. However, the important thing is how much they use them to avoid dependence and avoid the phenomena and accidents that the press has reported, especially cases of online bullying, kidnapping, fraud, and spreading bad and toxic information,” said Dr. Nguyen Van Hieu, Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City.

According to the Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, many schools are currently applying administrative measures such as banning the use of phones, disciplining students, inviting parents... but each place has its own way, the effectiveness is not uniform. This workshop was organized to listen to the experiences and opinions of students, parents, schools and experts, thereby creating consensus and finding the most suitable solution.

Dr. Nguyen Van Hieu also emphasized that the City has been building a “happy school” model in the past two years, aiming to increase sharing between friends, between students and teachers. “Recess needs to be replaced by collective games, school radio programs produced by students themselves so that they can participate, listen and share with each other. I still remember when I was doing youth movements, the vibrant recess with children's songs, soccer, shuttlecock kicking... left very clear and positive memories,” Dr. Nguyen Van Hieu shared.

Ms. Huynh Le Nhu Trang, Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, presented flowers to the experts.

Dr. Nguyen Van Hieu also suggested that schools focus on listening to the opinions of parents and students, building a relationship of mutual trust, so that students can have meaningful and effective breaks, contributing to better learning.

According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training, the regulation restricting the use of cell phones during recess is not intended to be an extreme prohibition, but rather to build a safe and friendly school environment, encourage direct interaction and physical activity, thereby improving the quality of comprehensive education.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/giao-duc/khuyen-khich-nha-truong-to-chuc-the-thao-van-nghe-tro-choi-dan-gian-trong-gio-choi-de-han-che-dien-thoai-di-dong-20250918112114179.htm