On her first school day following the summer break, Klara Ptak almost forgot her phone at home — perhaps the clearest sign that the student at Dalton High School in Alsdorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, has adapted to school life without a phone. At the end of April, her school introduced a strict mobile phone ban for all grades.

Klara, now 17 years old, told DW: "I can't just glance at my phone anymore, or quickly send a message during a break. At first, many students asked what the point of it was. But with time, many have come to realize that it's not so bad, and that it actually has quite a few benefits."