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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Nayara Batschke

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

APTOPIX Chile Daily Life - (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

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.

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