Eton College Bans Incoming Students from Having Smartphones

Eton College, located near the royal palace in Windsor, is renowned for its academic excellence and counts prominent figures like novelist George Orwell, Ian Fleming, and several past prime ministers among its alumni. The decision to ban incoming students from having smartphones is part of the school's ongoing review of its mobile phone policy, aiming to strike a balance between the advantages and challenges technology poses in educational settings. First-year students, aged 13, will be required to switch their SIM cards to offline Nokia phones provided by the school, enabling only basic communication features like calls and texts.

The school's previous policy mandated first-year students to surrender their smartphones overnight, but the new directive expands to restrict smartphones entirely during the school day. Those joining in Year 9 will be provided with a basic 'brick' phone for outside school hours and a school-issued iPad for academic purposes, ensuring age-appropriate digital controls are in place for different year groups. The move aligns with a broader trend in educational institutions worldwide, where schools in both the U.K. and the U.S. are reevaluating smartphone policies to manage distractions, though opinions on such bans remain divided. Many argue that personal devices offer educational benefits, such as interactive learning tools, while others express concerns about students' access to help in potential emergencies without smartphones.