Berkhamsted Schools on setting digital boundaries

Jo Hughes, Group Director of EdTech at Berkhamsted Schools, on setting boundaries to support children and families by going smartphone free

Blue light streaming out from under bedroom doors, more screens than plates at dinner, tired eyes at the front door as children slug on bags to leave – parents have seen it all. Smartphones are a gift for connecting us to the world, but for children, they can also be hugely draining.

King’s College London research published in 2024 suggested that one in four children were addicted to social media. The report also found that teenagers with problematic smartphone use are three times as likely to have depression. Amid serious concerns about online bullying, radicalisation and mental health risks, we at Berkhamsted Schools Group decided that our community needed a change.

We call our approach, ‘Pro Tech, Pro Boundaries’. We don’t want to eradicate all technology from our campuses, but we do want to ensure that it doesn’t rule our lives. Multiple parent focus groups, engagement with studies and conversations with leading neuroscientist Dr. Sarah Jayne Blakemore culminated in the decision to become a ‘smartphone-free school’.

Pupils in Year 7-11 place their phones in lockable Yondr pouches at first bell and are only able to open them after the school day ends, with specialised magnets set up around campuses. Starting this academic year, each incoming Year 7 cohort were limited to bringing a non-smartphone within school grounds. This means a phone with no access to a camera or the internet.

“By working together as a parent-teacher team, building digital resilience in the next generation becomes that much easier”

As this rolls through the school, we aspire to have an entire Senior community who do not feel glued to their smartphone – at least, not during the school day. We support this ban with a scheme of PSHE and tutor sessions that contextualise our decision, as well as guiding discussions about how to be confident digital citizens, set technological boundaries and build a critical digital literacy.

Pupils have taken surprisingly well to this ban, perhaps energised by rediscovered time to chat with friends and engage in more extracurriculars. The security of Yondr pouches means that teachers don’t spend lunchtimes watching out for phone use. Instead, they’re watching out for flying footballs in the quad, or leading clubs themselves.

Focus has improved in classrooms, partly because the cognitive drain of constant notifications has been eased. The average teen receives 237 smartphone notifications a day, according to Common Sense Media, so there is now a mental relief that creates space for pupils to be truly present and engaged in their learning. When phones disappear, childhood reappears.

We understand that smartphone habits aren’t just formed in school, which is why we want parents to feel equally supported if they want to push for further digital boundaries at home. At Berkhamsted, we encourage parents to lean on our policy – to blame the school. If children push back against device restrictions, parents can confidently point to school policy as the reason and also receive support to hold their ground. By working together as a parent-teacher team, building digital resilience in the next generation becomes that much easier.

We want our pupils to thrive in a digital world, not be ruled by it. With these policies, we hope to build strong, healthy technological boundaries that set up our pupils to be truly remarkable later on in life, not living on their phones.

Berkhamsted Schools berkhamsted.com