The Fulham Boys School
London
At Fulham Boys School in London, headteacher David Smith was concerned about the number of boys accessing violent content and the risks to their physical safety beyond the school gate - especially during school trips and the journey to and from school. These concerns could only be addressed with a complete on-site ban, allowing boys to bring simple “brick” phones only.
Fulham Boys is a secondary free school with 800 pupils aged 11–18.
30% of pupils are eligible for pupil premium.
Smartphones are banned from school premises for boys in year 7-11. Boys are allowed to bring one of 3 specified brick phone models (call and text only). Smartphones are confiscated for 6 school weeks, excluding school holidays.
The risk of being mugged or threatened with a weapon, or stepping into moving traffic, increases when boys travel with smartphones. The potential for fights to be filmed and circulated on social media was also a concern.
As a boys school, teachers were especially concerned about boys regularly accessing extreme pornography and other violent material. Compliance with a no-see no hear policy was felt generally to be working but staff were aware that boys were using their smartphones in the toilets.
Education, regulation, communication.
A student survey revealed that more than one third of boys had no parental restrictions on their phones.
In September 2024, the school implemented a “brick-phones-only” policy. If smartphones are seen or heard they are confiscated for 6 school weeks (ie excluding holidays) - a high penalty to signal the school’s complete commitment to being smartphone-free. When the school announced the ban (in May 2024) they also sought to educate parents on the material smartphones are exposing young people to and the need for tighter restrictions at home.
Fewer safeguarding issues inside and outside school
The Fulham Boys safeguarding team has reported a significant decline in safeguarding issues, including sexual exploitation, since the introduction of the ban. Despite some initial pushback from a vocal minority of parents, support for the ban has been overwhelmingly positive, with parents at a year 7 introduction evening spontaneously applauding the measure.
“Looking at what smartphones are doing to our children I felt a moral obligation to ban them. A small number of parents, maybe 5%, were against it and they made a lot of noise, but that stopped when they saw I wasn’t going to change my mind. Our admissions are higher than ever, DSLs are dealing with far fewer issues. It’s a complete no-brainer.”
David Smith, Headteacher Fulham Boys School