When French students go to school, they have to leave one of their most prized possessions at home — their smartphones.

French lawmakers passed a law on July 31, 2018, banning students 15 and under from bringing smartphones and tablets to school, or at least requiring they be turned off at school. Officials in support of the new rule described the policy as a way to protect children from addictive habits and to safeguard the sanctity (神圣) of the classroom.

“We know there is a phenomenon of screen addiction,” education minister Jean-Michel Blanquer said. “Our main role is to protect students. It is a fundamental role of education, and this law allows it.”

The law, however, makes exceptions for educational use, after-school activities and for students with disabilities. French high schools can choose to force a less-strict ban on Internet- connected devices.

Even before the new policy was voted in, French law carried out in 2010 prohibited students from using their phones while class was in session. But during the 2017 French presidential election, Emmanuel Macron promised to force a school ban on phones entirely.

This isn’t the first French law designed to beat back the influences of digital technology in everyday life. In 2017 the government passed a law requiring French companies to draft rules that limited work emails and work-related technology outside the office. Referred to as the “right to disconnect,” French officials said the law aimed to reduce job-related stress and prevent employee burnout.

“Employees physically leave the office, but they do not leave their work. They remain attached by a kind of electronic tie,” said Benoît Hamon, former French education minister. “The texts, the messages, the emails: they control the life of the individual to the point where he or she eventually breaks down.”

For a period of more than 10 years, improvements were seen in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest. Deforestation rates(毁林率) dropped and stayed below 10,000 square kilometers a year. But that changed in January 2019, when President Jair Bolsonaro took office.

Researchers and environmentalists have blamed(贵备) Bolsonaro for causing sharp increases in deforestation rates. Bolsonaro is set to leave office on January 1, 2023, after recently losing re-election to former President Silva.

“Part of the tree cutting and burning during the dry season happens in areas that are supposed to be protected. In recent years, deforestation has reached protected areas where previously there was almost no destruction,” said Jakeline Pereira, a researcher with the Amazon Institute. Pereira told the AP, “In Paru’s region, rainforest was destroyed to enlarge land for crops and cows.” Bolsonaro has been blamed for weakening environmental agencies to support economic development.

Brazilian President-elect Silva recently promised cheering crowds at the U.N. climate meeting in Egypt to end all deforestation across the whole country by 2030. “The climate problems will be more serious if the Amazon isn’t protected,“ he said.

The Amazon rainforest covers an area twice the size of India. It acts as a buffer against climate change by taking in large amounts of CO2 . It is also the most biodiverse (多种生物的) forest in the world, and the home of tribes that have lived in the area for thousands of years.