Oxley College Mobile Device Policy – 2025

From the Deputy Head of College, Mark Case

The following is adapted from my newsletter article on 23 August 2024:

There is compelling evidence that smartphone and social media use is having a significantly detrimental impact on the wellbeing of young people. It is leading to increases in anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem, as well as disrupted sleep patterns. Furthermore, studies have shown that a smartphone-free school environment can enhance students’ focus, reduce cyberbullying, and improve overall academic performance.

The nexus of smartphones and social media is especially damaging. Their impact on the health and wellbeing of children and young people is a public health issue. At this crucial stage in the development of the brain, children are forming their identity, looking for validation from peers, engaging in social comparison and looking for connection with others. This makes them especially vulnerable to the business model of social media companies, which involves keeping users on their platform as much as possible.

The Federal Government has recently announced that they intend to pass legislation next year to prevent children under the age of 16 from having social media accounts. This welcome step supports Oxley’s position on smartphones and the evidence-based concerns we have for the damage that social media has been having on children and young people over the past 15 years.

In 2025, Oxley College will have a smartphone-free policy for all students below Year 9.

This means that students in Years K-8 will not be permitted to bring a smartphone to school or to any school event. If students in those cohorts need to bring a mobile phone to school or to any school event (which includes Saturday sport), they will need to acquire a feature phone, previously referred to as a ‘brickphone’ or ‘dumbphone’ (see below). Following the government’s announcement this week, at this stage it is our intention to extend this policy in 2026 to include Year 9 students in that year (ie. students currently in Year 7).

For parents with children in Years K-8 who do not have a smartphone, this policy aims to provide significant support for you in delaying giving your child a smartphone.

I will be writing to all 2025 Oxley families next week to reiterate the College’s position on this.

In 2025:

Junior School: students must not bring a smartphone to school or to any school event. If students need to bring a phone for the purpose of texting/calling parents or carers after school, they may bring a feature phone but must hand it in to their class teacher each day.

Years 7 & 8: students must not bring a smartphone to school or to any school event, including Saturday sport. If students need to bring a phone for the purpose of texting/calling parents or carers after school, they may bring a feature phone, but it must be stored in their locker during the school day, when on excursions or on Saturdays when attending sport. They may also keep it in their sports bag when at sport.

Year 8 (Year 9 2026): We are conscious that the change in policy is most challenging for this cohort of students, in which the majority (although not all), will already have a smartphone and social media access; adjusting to this policy will be especially challenging. However, given our commitment to protecting the health of young people, we believe it is our responsibility to limit, if not eliminate, its use until students are old enough to be able to use this technology safely. Therefore, it may be necessary for students to purchase an alternative feature phone device for school/school events and sport.

Years 9-12: students may bring a smartphone to school, but it must be stored in their locker during the school day and when on excursions.  Any exceptions to this will be at the discretion of the Head of Senior School.

Some FAQs:

What about smartwatches?

We discourage students bringing these devices to school. Some smartwatches, like the Apple Watch, have “school mode”, which disables notifications; however, like other devices, this can be circumvented. It would be very difficult for the school to operate a ban on smartwatches; however, students using their smartwatch for anything other than telling the time during the school day can expect to have it confiscated.

What about buses returning early/late from Saturday away games, and the need for students to inform parents?

We will be introducing a procedure next year in which parents will be sent a message if the bus is anticipated to return at least 15 minutes earlier/later than the published time; students will not need their phone to do this themselves.

My child’s smartphone does not have any social media apps or internet browser on it, so why can’t they bring it to school?

Experience over many years has shown that, despite the best intentions and determination of parents, students have repeatedly found ingenious ways to circumvent such attempts.

What about iMessage? Students can still access this on their laptop.

We are aware that students do this, and it is very difficult to prevent/catch students doing it. It would help us considerably if parents did not respond or contact their children in this way! We are in the process of assembling a pilot group of students in the Senior School who have volunteered (with their parents/carers agreement) to have software installed that will prevent students from being able to do this on the school network. If successful, we will roll this out in 2025.

Definitions

Classifying tech devices can be complex and confusing. For the purposes of our policy, here are some definitions:

Smartphone: a mobile phone with internet access and an operating system capable of running downloaded apps, including internet browsing, and/or social media apps.

Smartwatch: a wearable device, with additional computerised functionality. They vary considerably in their capabilities. Cellular smartwatches contain an eSIM that connects to mobile networks, without the need for a smartphone. Non-Cellular Bluetooth smartwatches function as an accessory to a smartphone when in close proximity.

Feature phone: a mobile phone that typically includes features like calling/messaging, and sometimes basic internet connectivity, but does not support the advanced functionality of a smartphone, including internet browsing or social media apps.  

There are many feature phones on the market that retail around $60-$130, including many Nokia models. See Alternatives to smartphones in Australia: Safer, smarter choices for kids | Wait Mate for other examples.

This change in our policy is made in the best interests of the health of children, and our aim to develop confident and capable young people. We realise that there will be a period of adjustment for many families in adapting to this. It will also require some parents/carers to change their current practice of messaging their children during the school day (or responding to their children’s messages). By avoiding messaging their children during the school day, parents/carers are helping them to grow up to become confident, responsible, capable and independent young people.

Further reading: Please see the College website: Smartphones and Social Media – Oxley College and also Jonathan Haidt’s book ‘The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness’, published by Penguin Press (March 2024).

Kind regards

Mark Case
Deputy Head of College