In September 2024, more than 800 boys walked into their West London secondary school without a smartphone for the first time.
The pioneer behind the initiative, David Smith, is the headteacher of Fulham Boys School, the first UK state secondary school to go fully smartphone-free.
With some younger students none the wiser, older students apprehensive about the experience and parents concerned over the safety of their children getting to and from school, Mr Smith had to navigate the new approach to school life to change the narrative of the future for his students.
But the initiative did not stem from poor behaviour or poor academic results.
In fact, Fulham Boys School performs in the top 2% of secondary schools in the country academically, and is an environment that Mr Smith describes as ‘academically thriving with excellent behaviour and is hugely over-subscribed’ and acknowledged that there was zero reason for him to make this change.
‘For me, the decision to get rid of phones and to change the mindset of young people wasn’t for the academics or behaviour, I think strong leadership can do those things away, it was a bigger moral piece because our young people are hugely affected by the world that they live in,’ he said.
Fulham Boys Schools has a ‘no smart technology on site’ rule.
That includes no smartphones, no smartwatches and no wireless headphones and students face a six-week confiscation for any device found on site.
Some schools have introduced phone pouches, which are specialised magnetic-locking bags, where the phone cannot be removed until the pouch is tapped on an unlocking base at home time.
But Mr Smith said he disagrees with the concept.
‘A pouch is saying on my watch in school, I don’t want them having a phone, but when they go home, they can do whatever they want. I want to educate our young men,’ he said.
‘We often talk about when they are fathers and when they will buy their children a smartphone, or when they’ll allow them to have social media. Interestingly, every single boy I ever speak to in this school will always give an age older than when they got their first phone.’
The main concerns from parents over the ban were around safety but Mr Smith believes that parents can also be re-educated, and are often more anxious than children.
The school has identified three types of ‘brick phone’ that students can have if parents are concerned about safety, which can only send texts and make calls and cannot take photos or videos.
Parents can also track their children with devices such as AirTags or similar, in their school bags.
‘It’s always a vocal minority that kick off. As headteachers we’re very thick-skinned,’ said Mr Smith.
‘I’ve had complaints to Ofsted, complaints to the police, I’ve had people say they’re going to take legal action because we’ve stolen their property, but ultimately, it’s about 5% of parents and those who are really supportive are often quiet about it.
‘No one has ever withdrawn their child from the school, no one has ever stopped sending them on a school trip, no one has stopped giving time or money to the school if they volunteer. There’s been no negative impact, and the positive has been that people have sought out our school even more because of our strong stance on smartphones.’
Mr Smith, who now regularly speaks at conferences on the topic, and advises other schools looking to follow suit, said that he is regularly asked what impact the ban has made.
‘On the face of it, nothing has changed. Behaviour is the same, academics are the same, but we’ve had a 90% reduction in child sexual exploitation issues with our youth, everything from being groomed online, sexting issues on WhatsApp, where boys are asked to share certain things and comment on certain things, or pornography issues. For the younger years, there has been a huge reduction in issues,’ he said.
‘We did a random search of Year 8 a few weeks ago, checking their bags and blazers and out of 130 students didn’t find a single smartphone. We did a survey and a third of our current Year 7s and 8s have never had a smartphone. When we did it a few years ago, 97% had a smartphone and we’ve gone to about 60% having one.’
Each December the school takes about 125 pupils on a ski trip, involving a 18-hour coach journey there and back with no smartphones.
Mr Smith said they stay in a hotel with two other schools, and while students from other schools are glued to their phones, the Fulham Boys School students are having fun and playing cards, spending time with each other.
‘It became very normal very quickly. Anytime we do an open evening, I talk about it. I talk to parents about it when they’re applying for the school, everyone already knows,’ he said.
‘As much as they love having a phone, some of them now don’t have one. This is a decision for generations. It’s really important we allow children to be children.’
With the topic of children having smartphones becoming more rife following the UK Prime Minister’s announcement of a social media ban for under-16s, Mr Smith said it is a positive change for society.
But for the headteacher, one of the biggest concerns is how society let it get this far in the first place.
‘Years ago, decisions were made around smoking and wearing seatbelts in the car and everyone was up in arms, but they are positive changes for society, as with everything the government is doing with social media, but frankly if children didn’t have smartphones, they wouldn’t need to do it,’ he said.
‘The government haven’t included WhatsApp but I think that’s one of the most dangerous ones because you can just be added to a group without knowing. It could be a group of 200 people and as soon as you go on your phone, you’ve seen something and there’s a huge danger there.’
‘We’re looking at a mental health crisis, resilience, employing young people who have gone through Covid and not sat exams, sitting in their bedrooms having to deal with the world on their own.
‘We are reaping the negative rewards of the last few years and we need to change the narrative. I believe the boys that go to this school are going to be far better equipped for the world, far healthier, far happier and more in control of who they are because we have supported them at this early stage of their life.’
While some schools implement the phone ban gradually, Mr Smith and Fulham Boys School went cold turkey.
‘My argument to any headteacher is that if you’re leading a good school, you will survive this change and become more popular in this change as more parents are becoming worried,’ said Mr Smith.
‘I take pride in being a headteacher that says I care about your child so much that I am willing to go through a bit of grief in order to put rules in place that makes them happier, healthier and more successful.’
Saturday’s event is hosted by Smartphone Free Childhood Guernsey.
The free event is aimed at parents, teachers, policymakers and politicians.
David Smith will be giving first-hand experience of the ban in his school and lessons learnt along the way, and data protections and ethics expert Emma Martins will discuss the reality of how harmful, addictive business models intentionally capture and monetise children’s attention and how children can be safeguarded from digital harm.
The talks take place between 10am and midday at Les Beaucamps High School.
An alternative showcase will be held from midday to 1pm where attendees can test out smartphone alternatives.