Pupils in France have been banned from using their mobile phones during school hours after a new law has been passed prohibiting their use.

Students in both primary and middle schools up to the age of 15 will now have to leave their phones at home or switch them off.

From now on they will only be able to use them in cases of emergency.

Education minister Jean-Michel Blanquer said the law aimed to help children focus on lessons, to socialise better and to reduce social media use. It is also designed to fight online bullying and prevent thefts or violence in school.

Currently in the UK, it is up to the school to decide whether phones should be banned.

But a new poll released as pupils return to school suggested that almost six in 10 (59 per cent) UK parents think students should not be allowed to carry their mobiles around the school grounds.

However, of the 2,022 parents surveyed by Internet Matters, 27 per cent said phones should be permitted during breaktime, while 34 per cent said they should be permitted during lunchtime.

Cyberbullying was also found to be a cause of concern for eight out of 10 respondents, with 68 per cent worried about their child feeling the strain of having the latest device.

Back to school: children attend class around the world Show all 30 1 /30 Back to school: children attend class around the world Back to school: children attend class around the world Yemen A student stands in the ruins of one of his former classrooms Unicef/Clarke for UN Back to school: children attend class around the world Mali Sitan Doumbia, 5, plays with her friends at the Early Childhood Development Center in Mali Unicef/Keita Back to school: children attend class around the world Democratic Republic of the Congo Teacher Edouard Kabukapua, 28, accompanies his students as they sing on their way to their class in a temporary tent school in Mulombela village, KasaÃ¯ region, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The humanitarian situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has deteriorated dramatically over the past year. A surge in violent conflict in the KasaÃ¯ and Eastern regions has forced many people from their homes, including in the Kasai region. Unicef has scaled up integrated health, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), nutrition, education, protection in the country Unicef/Tremeau Back to school: children attend class around the world Democratic Republic of the Congo Tshiela, 10, sits in what was once her school, before residents fled the fighting Unicef/Tremeau Back to school: children attend class around the world Cameroon Students learn with the help of a computer tablet provided by Unicef at a school in Baigai Unicef/Prinsloo Back to school: children attend class around the world Syria Saleh*, 15, made the trip from his village in southern rural Aleppo to sit his final Grade 9 exams. He missed a year of schooling when violence escalated in his village Unicef/Al-Issa Back to school: children attend class around the world Malawi Students sit in their classroom at Makankhula Full Primary School in Dedza district. This outdoor classroom is not by choice, and is typical of Malawi's rural schools, where the lack of resources results in many young students learning under a tree. The primary school faces many challenges such as only having 16 teachers and a handful of classrooms for over 1,200 children Unicef/Brown Back to school: children attend class around the world Sudan Sunlight is filtered by reed walls as it streams into a classroom as students attend a mathematics class at the Upper Nile primary school in the Protection of Civilians Unicef/Hatcher-Moore Back to school: children attend class around the world Syria A child packs up his notebook at a make-shift school in rural Dar'a Unicef/anonymous Back to school: children attend class around the world Yemen Students play chess in Nosaibah School for Girls in Sana'a, Yemen Unicef/Fuad Back to school: children attend class around the world Democratic Republic of the Congo Students attend a class in a temporary tent school set up by Unicef Unicef/Tremeau Back to school: children attend class around the world Yemen Students sit under a tree as a teacher leads a class in Bait Al Faqueeh Unicef/Obadi Back to school: children attend class around the world Sudan Displaced children study in a tent classroom at the primary school in the Protection of Civilians Unicef/Hatcher-Moore Back to school: children attend class around the world Jordan A boy plays in the Unicef-supported Makani centre in Irbid Unicef/Shennawi Back to school: children attend class around the world Côte d’Ivoire Overcrowded class at a primary school in Gonzagueville. Unicef partnered with Conceptos Plasticos, a Columbian company that produces buidling materials with recyclable plastics, to build classrooms in this overcrowded preschool and primary school where in some classes there are more than 100 children, some of them as little as 3 years old In CÃ´te d'Ivoire, many children do not access to education for lack of infrastructure in their community. Unicef/Dejongh Back to school: children attend class around the world Yemen Students listen to their teacher during a class held in a Unicef tent school, after the Aal Okab school which they used to attend was destroyed in June 2015, in Saada, Saada Governorate, Yemen Unicef/Clarke for UN Back to school: children attend class around the world Central African Republic Gracia Rita, 13, is in her last year of primary school at the Combattant School in Bangui Unicef/Sokhin Back to school: children attend class around the world Mali Fatoumata Ouattara, a Mama Yeleen - a model mother trained in early childhood development (ECD), watches children during a drawing and colouring session with children at the Early Childhood Development Center in Mali. The Mama Yeleen initiative is promoted and supported by Unicef and its partners Unicef/Keita Back to school: children attend class around the world Yemen Students gather outside the Nosaibah School for Girls in Sana'a, Yemen. Nearly half a million children have dropped out of school since the 2015 escalation of conflict in Yemen, bringing the total number of out-of-school children to 2 million. Unicef/Abdulhaleem Back to school: children attend class around the world Sudan Pupils sit in a classroom during lessons at the Upper Nile primary school in the Protection of Civilians site in Bentiu, South Sudan Unicef/Hatcher-Moore Back to school: children attend class around the world Malawi Binafrey Viera (center) enjoys being in class at an ECD center at Luwani Refugee Camp in Malawi Unicef/Chikondi Back to school: children attend class around the world Bangladesh Rohingya refugee Anjali, 8, attends a class at a Unicef-supported learning centre at the Balukhali makeshift settlement, in Ukhia, Cox's Bazar Unicef/Sujan Back to school: children attend class around the world Central African Republic A community teacher (centre in blue) plays with children in the playground at the child friendly space in Ndenga village. The village hosts a away from Kaga Bandoro, program for local children formerly associated with the anti-balaka armed group Unicef/Sokhin Back to school: children attend class around the world Yemen Fatima Abdullah Abduoh, 12, attends a Unicef child friendly space. Fatima lost her elder sister to an illness during the conflict Unicef/Fuad Back to school: children attend class around the world Central African Republic Jospin stands in front of the blackboard in a classroom at the MINUSCA site in Kago Bandoro, Central African Republic Unicef/Sokhin Back to school: children attend class around the world Yemen A student attends class. Almost three quarters of public school teachers have not been paid their salaries in over a year, putting the education of an additional 4.5 million children at grave risk Unicef/Fuad Back to school: children attend class around the world Uganda Pupils of Bright Centre Early Childhood Development Centre, in Zone One, Block IV, Bidibidi refugee settlement in Yumbe district in northern Uganda, sing and play in their classroom Unicef/Bongyereirwe Back to school: children attend class around the world Côte d’Ivoire Students in class at a primary school in Gonzagueville. less than seven children out of ten go to primary school. In Côte d’Ivoire, UNICEF distributes school kits to children and supports the Ministry of Education by building schools and training teachers. Unicef/Ddejongh Back to school: children attend class around the world Sudan South Sudanese refugees children playing with their locally made toys together with a caregiver at reception Bright ECD Centre, Yumbe District Unicef/Sibiloni Back to school: children attend class around the world Sudan A child points out letters of the alphabet on a blackboard in a tent for pre-school children at the primary school in the Protection of Civilians UNICEF/Hatcher-Moore

Psychologist Dr Linda Papadopoulos said: “Children who are starting secondary school are going from being a big fish in a little pond to a little fish in a big pond and they are suddenly having to find their way. On top of that, they have all these new communication tools and kids are starting to interact online – which can be very different from the face-to-face interactions they’re used to.

“Unless parents take the time to outline the differences of communicating online and offline, and prepare them for how things can be misconstrued online – they run the risk of feeling isolated or even bullied.”