A draft ordinance that proposes a limit of two hours of smartphone use, outside of work or study purposes, was voted on in Toyoaki City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, today. The ordinance passed with 12 out of 19 council members voting in favor. All local citizens should follow the new rule starting from October 1. However, “there is no enforcement or penalty in the ordinance,” reports Japan’s NHK (machine translation).
We reported on this upcoming vote about a month ago. The news raised our interest, as Toyoaki City council would be among the first to attempt to regulate smartphone usage to reap health benefits for the local population. Though the ordinance will cover all citizens of Toyoaki, there is certainly a sense that this is a ‘tool’ with which to coerce school children into reducing their free time screen time.
