Boston Grammar School in Lincolnshire has stopped students from using their smartphones during the day resulting in a complete drop in the number of kids put in isolation for breaking the rules
A school has banned smartphones to remove “constant access to the toxicity” of social media and tackle online bullying.
Teachers at Boston Grammar School in Lincolnshire said its Digital Detox has encouraged students to talk to each other and had reduced bullying.
Earlier this year, the Department for Education issued guidance intended to stop the use of mobile phones during the school day to “minimise disruption and improve behaviour in classrooms”.
In the 2023/24 school year Boston Grammar School said half of the incidents resulting in students being put in isolation were connected to mobile phones. Since the policy began they have reported none.
“We want to be a safe place where you don’t have constant access to what might have happened outside of school,” deputy head teacher Peter Barnsley said.
“Those things can be magnified through the use of mobile phones and group chats and so on,” he added. “We wanted to remove that toxicity from our school day. What we’ve found is a significant reduction in the amount of normal incidents that would have been made worse by mobile phones.”
During breakfast club in the mornings students who had been “sat around on their phones” were chatting more and getting homework done.
One student said: “The rule was there that you weren’t really allowed on your phones but it was kind of just a ‘put it away and don’t let me see it again’ however now the rules are set and the boundaries are there. I found it hard just to kind of leave it and forget about it, but then eventually it’s like anything you pick it up and it comes into the routine of the school day.”
One of the unexpected consequences of the policy was an increase in chatter in hallways and at break times, Mr Barnsley said.
“So yes maybe the noise has increased around the school but it’s a positive noise,”
A school in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, has introduced a similar ban including phones and watches. Forge Valley School no longer allows the use of smartphones, watches or headphones on its premises. Any student found to be using them has to hand them in, with the gadgets not returned for 24 hours.
