Fulham school follows lead of Southwark neighbours in imposing smartphone ban
By Ben Lynch, Local Democracy Reporter
A west London headmaster has said said giving smartphones to young kids is akin to ‘choosing to take away their childhood’, as his school prepares to largely ban the devices in the upcoming year.
The Fulham Boys School’s head David Smith is gearing up to implement the new policy once the 800 students begin returning later this week.
Applying to those in years 7 to 11, the move will limit the phones allowed in the Fulham Road school to three ‘brick’ options, which have no access to the internet and only allow texting and calling.
Anyone caught with a smartphone in school will have their device confiscated for six weeks, Mr Smith said, not inclusive of holidays.
The head of the decades-old school said that he and his staff had been considering students’ phone use for some time, ahead of the Government guidance issued earlier this year on restricting the devices during learning.
Many schools throughout the capital already have a phone-banning policy in place and in Southwark, there is a blanket ban on smartphones in force.
Prior to making the decision, Mr Smith ran an anonymous survey among his 800 students to get a better gauge of the potential impacts of their smartphones.
Among his findings were that 97 per cent estimated they received more than 50 notifications and messages a day, and that 38 per cent had no restrictions on their phone use.
Mr Smith said: “In all honesty, it was sobering for us as staff to consider these things in relation to our personal use of phones, and we were challenged to create a better school environment for the boys, with even clearer boundaries.”
The response from parents, he said, has been varied. Some argue the school is fighting a losing battle, while others have been more enthusiastic.
Some younger parents in particular, who have children due to start school, have been ‘really, really happy’, he said, as it removes some of the pressure of purchasing a phone for them.