Elite private boys’ school expands groundbreaking policy to delay giving students smart phones, social media

Hale School has announced plans to expand a groundbreaking policy to delay smartphone and social media access for Year 7 students, after parents said the approach eliminated peer pressure, reduced conflict at home and led to more engaged, present teenagers. The elite Perth private boys’ school trialled the policy — believed to be a national first — for pre-primary to Year 7 students this year, requesting that parents refrain from giving their sons a smartphone or smartwatch and ban them from using social media. On Wednesday, Hale Principal Dean Dell’Oro informed families the policy would be expanded to include Year 8 students in 2026, in response to a survey of Year 7 parents. Ninety per cent of parents said the school’s stance on social media was a success and 93 per cent supported it continuing as their children went into Year 8. On smartphones, 85 per cent said the delay had been successful and 82.5 per cent supported its continuation. Parents said the approach led to fewer incidents of bullying and exclusion, less FOMO (fear of missing out) and peer comparison, improved social interactions, and more engaged students. Hale Director of Learning Technology Rob Barugh said applying the rules to an entire year group was critical to its success, making it easier for parents to enforce boundaries and reducing conflict at home. “(Parents) talk about it being an absolute godsend at home, they felt relieved not to have to manage the risk and fall-out associated with social media,” Mr Baraugh said. “A lot of them have older kids that they’ve had fights with, and it has been a nightmare negotiating smart phone use, and now all of a sudden they don’t have to be in that space with a younger sibling.” Mr Dell’Oro said a number of schools locally, nationally and internationally had contacted Hale to express interest in adopting a similar approach. “It’s given a broader number of schools permission to go there, to support families in saying no by leaning back on the school’s position that this is educationally and developmentally not the right space for boys and girls to be in,” he said. “This initiative would never have got off the ground if families hadn’t come together to support the policy. We want all schools to come on board with this.” Teachers had noticed a difference in students’ ability to focus, and many teens were coming to school more rested, Mr Dell’Oro said. “The number of online issues that every school has to deal with, after hours and on weekends, has grown exponentially in the last few years. We’re seeing very, very few problems in that respect so it’s been fabulous,” he said. Mr Dell’Oro said digital literacy education formed a key plank of the policy. “Technology has a place, but intentional use is where it’s at,” Mr Dell’Oro said. “(The policy) gives us more time to educate and support young people in readiness for that technology, and when the time comes we hope young people will be more thoughtful about its use.” The survey revealed 49 per cent of Year 7 students had a “dumb” or “retro” phone, allowing them to contact family and friends but without the dangers or temptations of social media. Mr Dell’Oro said this had led to an added, unexpected benefit of more teenage boys having verbal conversations. “Some of the problems we are seeing in society is purely because boys don’t know how to express themselves so the ability to return to speaking on a phone — which young people rarely do anymore — they are developing those communications skills,” he said. “They are really important skills that many in the industry argue are being lost.” Challenges with the policy raised by parents included communication issues between boarding students and their families, the limitations of dumb phones and the fact 19 per cent of students still owned a smartphone. The majority of those who still accessed social media were using YouTube. Many parents requested more education on responsible device usage and controls. In the public school system, high school students are permitted to have mobile phones at school but must adhere to the “off and away all day” policy. Those who don’t face breaches. An Education Department spokeswoman said schools “may choose, in consultation with the school community, to maintain or introduce a mobile phone policy that imposes further restrictions than those set out in this policy.” “Access to a smart phone and social media outside of school is a decision for parents,” she said. It comes ahead of the Federal Government’s under-16s social media ban, which comes into effect on December 10 and will cover platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, X and YouTube. Cyber safety educator Paul Litherland applauded Hale, but said many schools would find it difficult to implement such a policy. “It’s about building a culture, and from a whole cohort perspective I think it’s a great idea,” he said. But he said in his experience working with schools across the country, 25 to 30 per cent of parents assisted their children in accessing social media and phones.