Italy’s first ‘phone ban’ is being trialled in Sardinia, and it was only natural that it should start with restaurants

In Sardinia, from 1 November, the use of mobile phones at the table will be banned in fifteen restaurants. It is a sort of scaled-down version of the Australian ban, limited to mealtimes but also extended to adults. Obviously, this is not a strict ban. There will be no waiters on hand to reprimand parents or children caught using their smartphones.

It is an experiment, “an attempt”, as the Sardinian branch of Fipe tells Il Foglio. The initiative was promoted, alongside the federation, by Anna Cau, the regional ombudsman for children and young people. The project is called “A tavola senza schermi” and is aimed at families with children and teenagers. For one month, parents and children will be invited to put their phones away and use a ‘get-together kit’ containing games, colouring pictures and activities designed for different age groups, to be enjoyed together whilst waiting for the courses to be served. Parents will also be given a leaflet with advice on screen use, which refers to the Italian Federation of Paediatricians’ guide on the risks and opportunities of digital technology.

Among the restaurant owners who have joined the scheme are some who had already thought of this, such as Trattoria Terra Nostra in Olbia: “Parents,” says the owner, “definitely need a moment to talk amongst themselves. And in fact, we’ve always provided children with colouring glasses, sheets of paper and pencil cases with crayons. Our restaurant, like others, is equipped to cater for young children. At the root of the problem, however, is first and foremost a lack of good behaviour on the part of parents.”

Unlike standard colouring books, this one has an ‘educational’ element, in the sense that the ‘kit’ contains educational games – the sort that list potential personal benefits in the instruction booklet. The manufacturer’s website states that these games ‘train the mind at any age, stimulating personal skills useful for everyday life’. Among those glimpsed during the press conference to present the project is ‘Visual’, subtitled ‘The game of attention and concentration’ (a sort of Memory game), but above all ‘100 mental and logic puzzles’, from the ‘Active Minds Forever’ series. There is also said to be a variation on the Game of the Goose, much to the delight of waiters. In any case, at first glance, all these games seem designed more to keep adults occupied than children.

Apart from the crayons, the most interesting part of the kit is actually the information leaflet, which features a QR code linking directly to a publication by the Italian Federation of Paediatricians, detailing the harmful risks of excessive smartphone use to the physical and cognitive development of children and teenagers. Although such reading material may not be ideal for a restaurant, the practice of keeping children glued to a screen to ensure a peaceful meal remains common, as does adult cell phone use at the table. 

In fact, according to some of the restaurant owners who have joined the initiative, the problem mainly concerns tables without children. There are even those, such as the manager of Craf Da Banana in Oristano, who have found themselves ‘reprimanding’ customers who are completely absorbed in their mobile phones: ‘It wasn’t like this before. I’d like to say ‘in my day’, but I’m 34, so I’m not talking about a bygone era. You sometimes see groups of people sitting at the same table in complete silence. When it comes to parents with children, it’s even more striking, but it’s something that affects everyone.”

So the family kit is certainly welcome, although perhaps the attention and concentration games might prove particularly useful to those who have long since outgrown the age of crayons. Virtually all restaurant owners, in fact, emphasise ‘conviviality’ – the pleasure of sharing a meal whilst avoiding the constant distractions of smartphones. Without attributing any particular benefits to the initiative, nor fearing any negative consequences. Those who have decided to take part have certainly thought of the children, but above all of the adults. In some ways, quieter tables might even make the waiters’ jobs easier. But a dining room full of customers engrossed in their screens inevitably ends up changing the atmosphere of the restaurant too. And, it seems, this is not the tranquillity that restaurateurs are looking for.

Emanuele Frongia, president of Fipe Sardegna, echoes his colleagues’ views and explains the rationale behind the ban: “We’re not doing anything new. We’re simply trying to restore normality to a situation that seems to have got out of hand. What should be moments of peace are disrupted by the use of mobile phones. This also distorts relationships. Furthermore, as paediatricians are involved in this experiment, the alternatives are not chosen at random either. I repeat, this is an experiment, a test to understand how customers will react. The important thing now is that people are talking about it.” 

It seems that at least this objective has been achieved, given that even The Guardian has written about it. Whether it is because every week a country announces bans to protect minors, or because the first "Italian-style ban" relates to food, the fact remains that so far this appears to be the only initiative of its kind that also extends to adults.