If you ban scrolling in public, only criminals will scroll in public. Remember, the only way to stop a bad guy scrolling in public is a good guy scrolling in public.

Are they also going to ban reading newspapers or books in public or are they hypocritical boomers?

"Everyone is struggling with too much screen time,” said Ludivine, a cardiology nurse, as she had her hair cut into a bob, leaving her phone out of sight in her bag. “I voted in favour, this could be a solution.”

I find it always funny, that you can read the narcissism & projection so clearly. "I have a phone addiction and I have recognised it. Now I am expecting everyone around me to restrain themself, to compensate for my lack of selfcontrol"

And it's always 'the children'. If you don't want your child to have access to a screen, don't give it one. Society isn't responsible to manage the screen time of your toddler. You are.

A 2000 people town, current trends indicate that the place is probably devoid of young people anyway. No matter what, that policy will not make young people want to live there, what a way to kill off your own town's already dwindling population

Boomer village

She said: “Recently in a waiting room, I brought books and dolls for my daughter to play with and everyone congratulated me that she wasn’t on a screen.”

...and then everyone stood up and clapped.

Fuck this, sounds like parenting and policing all slammed into the same policy. Just let people fucking be.

Getting real "Socrates on the Invention of Writing"-vibes from this.

"For this invention will produce forgetfulness in the minds of those who learn to use it, because they will not practice their memory. Their trust in writing, produced by external characters which are no part of themselves, will discourage the use of their own memory within them. [...]"

Absurd policy. Good luck enforcing it.

First off, the way this is discribed is an intrusion on a way of life/ peoples behaviour, and I personally feel it crosses a line.

banning adults and children from scrolling on their devices while walking down the street, while sitting with others on a park bench, while in shops, cafes or eating in restaurants and while parents wait for their children in front of the school gates. Those who might check their phone’s map when lost are instead being encouraged to ask for directions.

What should drive a discussion about digital media are the following questions:

• Why are young people and children especially drawn to digital devices?
• How does peer pressure affect parents' choices when buying a mobile device for their kids? (e.g.: children being bullied in schools for not owning a smartphone)
• Why are people becoming addicted to digital technology?
• Which design choices are developers making to make software addicting? How can we stop that from happening?
• How can an addicted person be supported? ... and probably many more that I can't think of right now

The policy doesn't address any of these. Worst case scenario it communitcates to addicted people that their behaviour is unacceptable, creating an unneccessary additional burden.

Hoo boy. Nobody tell them about that new Apple computer you strap to your face and walk around in

Important context:

It is not enforceable by police – officers could not stop or fine people scrolling in the street because there is no national law against smartphones

So people who use their phone to communicate like deaf, blind, and/or nonverbal people or those who don't speak the language and use it to translate, as well as those who need it to help ease anxiety or as a barrier between themselves and an overwhelming world (in other words - disabled and other marginalised people), can go fuck themselves, can they?

Oh wait, don't tell me, "if there arises a need an exception will be made", which is basically saying disabled and other marginalised people can go fuck themselves, unless they are willing to be stopped, forced to disclose their personal and/or medical information to strangers and be scrutinised on the spot by people without any training with the potential of being punished if said laypeople decide that actually they don't see good reason for the phone use..

Like, even without all of this the idea is a pathetic joke being enforced by power hungry control freaks, but the fact that they're happy to so openly punish and exclude marginalised people (who might stay home rather than face a world where they can't communicate, or where they might get constantly stopped and scrutinised for doing so) is just disgusting.

Fuck these people.

Perfect example of "road to hell is paved with good intentions"

The reasons here are pure but the methods are not. Luckily this only has a symbolic meaning and is not enforced by police. That would turn dystopian quite quick.

How does this work legally? The article mentions that it can't be enforced by police. And I'm sure that it's also not really in the power of local villages to ban checking a WhatsApp in a public park.

As an individual with Sensory Processing Disorder, Autism, and ADHD, that works in IT...

This policy is incredibly ableist.

Glad I don't live there.

"Just ask for directions"... have you ever tried asking a french person for help as a tourist? A lot of restraunts won't even serve you, even if you're speaking French.

This is the best summary I could come up with:

A picture of a smartphone with a red line through it serves as a warning in the window of a hairdresser’s shop in a French village that has voted to ban people scrolling on their phones in public.

“Everyone is struggling with too much screen time,” said Ludivine, a cardiology nurse, as she had her hair cut into a bob, leaving her phone out of sight in her bag.

Seine-Port, in the Seine-et-Marne area south of Paris, with a population of fewer than 2,000 people, last weekend voted yes in a referendum to restrict smartphone use in public, banning adults and children from scrolling on their devices while walking down the street, while sitting with others on a park bench, while in shops, cafes or eating in restaurants and while parents wait for their children in front of the school gates.

The mayor, Vincent Paul-Petit, of the rightwing party Les Républicains, will now write a municipal decree on smartphone use, the first of its kind in France.

Emmanuel Macron said last month he would consult scientific experts to “determine the best use of screens” for young children, suggesting there could be bans or restrictions.

“There’s not much else to do – if you ban phones, you’d have to put in place real structures for young people’s leisure, sports and games,” said Nawel Deciron, 21, a history student and trainee teacher.

The original article contains 1,066 words, the summary contains 230 words. Saved 78%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

My first thought: what about navigation? From the article:

Those who might check their phone’s map when lost are instead being encouraged to ask for directions.

Yikes. I wonder if car drivers are allowed to use their built-in satnavs while cyclists are prohibited from using OpenStreetMaps strapped to their forearm.

I would agree a lot of smartphone use is poor etiquette, but whenever I ask someone for directions they pull out their smartphone to help answer the question. My French is dysfunctional so I would be fucked in that area.