No TikTok, no Instagram: Chilean school blocks phones as students rediscover real-world connections

SANTIAGO, Chile — Volleyball, basketball, ping pong, dancing rehearsals or simple chats. Dozens of teens are rediscovering how to reconnect to the real world after a school in Santiago, Chile, implemented a pioneering program in the country that blocks cell phones signals. Now, instead of compulsively scrolling through their Instagram feeds or sharing choreographed TikTok dances, students spend time at the library, the café or along the several courts of Lo Barnechea Bicentenario school, located in the wealthy district of Lo Barnechea in northern Santiago. “Breaks are very lively now,” the school’s principal, Humberto Garrido, told The Associated Press. In order to stimulate bonding among youngsters, the school also put in place a “comprehensive plan that also includes more games in the courtyard, board games in the library, soccer, tennis, basketball, and even championships,” he said. The program — the first ever put in place in Chile and one of the first in South America — was implemented last month, a bid by the Lo Barnechea mayor’s office to address student well-beWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times