PARIS, FRANCE - Nearly half of French youths are using their mobile phones in class, with a majority saying they had answered calls during lessons, according to a survey published Tuesday.

The survey of French youths age 12-17 by TNS Sofres found that 73 percent have their own mobile phone, a figure that rises to 95 percent for 16- and 17-year-olds.

A fifth said they have had their phones confiscated by school officials, according to the survey published in the daily Le Parisien.

Mobiles are not officially banned in French schools, and administrators lack the legal authority to confiscate phones, the newspaper noted. Some seven percent of students surveyed said they had surreptitiously filmed their teachers.

The survey questioned 500 French school students from 17-19 September.