Taiwan's legislature passed changes to the School Health Act that give schools legal backing to restrict phone use and other addictive behavior among students, a win for parents and teachers worried about screen time.

• Schools can now guide, manage, or limit items and behavior that harm student health, adjusted by age and school stage.
• The rules are aimed squarely at phones and tablets, which had no clear legal basis for control before.
• Mental health education becomes part of required health classes for schools up through senior high, and teachers can be sent for training.
• Schools must also stock period products and teach students about menstruation, and hearing problems join the list of conditions schools screen for.
• All schools up through senior high must ban smoking, e-cigarettes, and new tobacco products, along with alcohol, betel nut, and nicotine products.

Outlook: The education ministry will now write the detailed rules schools follow, so the real test is how strictly individual campuses enforce phone limits.