Our response to concerns about fully smartphone free (brick phone only) policies in schools

This is NOT about schools telling parents how to parent. Families are still able to buy their child a smartphone if they wish but they will not be allowed to bring this into school. One smartphone poses risk to children around them and so the best protection for all children in school is to not allow them onsite.

A brick phone is one that cannot access the internet, take pictures or video, but can call and text.

Here are some brick phone options you could consider:

• Nokia 105 4G (approx £15)
• TTfone 300 (approx £30)
• Maxcom MM135 (approx £17)

*It is important to pair the brick phone with a no data SIM card to ensure it is call and text only. Without this, some brick phones can still access the internet and so the risks are still present.

Here are some No data SIM options:

• Ecotalk sim £4 a month - unlimited calls & texts, no data - (This company diverts its profits into rewilding projects within the UK. It operates using the EE network)
• Asda talk & text £4 a month - unlimited calls & texts, no data

You will always be able to contact your child in case of an emergency by contacting the school office. Likewise, if your child feels they need to get in touch with you they can go to the school office or teacher to explain why. We believe a large part of a child’s development at school is how they learn to navigate challenges and problem solve independently, without immediate parental support. We understand this may cause you and them some anxiety, but helping them learn to cope without your immediate support and encouraging them to build trust with adults and other children around them is a crucial part of growing up and leads to greater resilience and self confidence.

We accept that banning smartphones will cause some level of inconvenience to parents and children, but on balance we think this inconvenience is a reasonable compromise to better protect children from exposure to serious safeguarding risks. We hope a fully smartphone free environment will also make it easier for children to focus, concentrate and develop real world social skills that will be so important for their adult life.

Your child does not need a smartphone to travel on the bus. Brighton & Hove buses can provide children with a physical bus pass that parents can top-up online. They call this a 'busID' card and it is topped up using a My Key account.

Here is the busID Key application form which explains what information you will need to apply for a busID card.

There are three ways you can get a BusID card:

• 1) Download, print and post the completed application form along with a passport style photo and a copy of your child's ID
• 2) Email the information required by the application form along with a passport style photo and a copy of your child's ID to [email protected] 
• 3) Go to the store to complete the application process. If your child attends with you, they can take the photograph there and then.

A copy of your child's birth certificate or passport will be accepted as identification. If you don't have either of these, please contact B&H buses, as other forms of ID may be accepted too.

Your BusID card will be registered with a My Key account using your email address. You can then pay for your child's bus tickets online. Please note that each BusID and associated My Key account will need a separate email address.

Email [email protected] 
Post Brighton & Hove bus company, 43 Conway Street, Hove, BN3 3LT.
In-person 

• Brighton Travel Shop 27 North Street, Brighton, BN1 1EB 
• Travel Desk 43 Conway Street, Hove, BN3 3LT.

Customer service number
01273 886 200 (6am-10pm Monday to Friday, 8am-10pm Sat, Sun, B/hol)

Here is their website with more information: Brighton & Hove busID key

SFC is in communication with the B&H bus company asking them to streamline the application process (e.g. allow for one-click application online) and to address the issue of needing a new email address for each child.

We understand that tracking your child may reduce your anxiety, but we must also consider what message it gives to our young people about their safety without constant surveillance. There is also some concern around normalising tracking family and friends, and how it might unintentionally endorse controlling or monitoring behaviours in future relationships.

Nonetheless if you wish to track your child there are relatively cheap non-smartphone alternatives. Here are a few options you could consider:

Tile (approx £20), Samsung Smart Tag (approx £10), Apple Airtag (approx £20)

Providing your child with a relatively cheap ‘brick phone’ (calls & text only) allows you to stay in touch and gives them the ability to call for help in case of an emergency. It reduces the risk of smartphone muggings, reports of which have increased nationally in recent years, and also makes children safer when crossing the road by reducing the distraction caused by a smartphone.

We completely agree. Banning smartphones from coming into school is not about being against technology, it is about protecting children from very serious safeguarding harms, reducing distraction in lessons and encouraging them to develop real world physical and social skills that will set them up to thrive in real life. Schools across Brighton & Hove will continue to provide a broad curriculum on technology and online safety as we do currently. 

Smartphones present a very real safeguarding risk to children in the form of violent, explicit, self-harm and addictive content. Children have a right to be protected from these harms. Schools have a legal duty of care to prevent children from experiencing these harms and this responsibility extends beyond the boundaries of school and includes the online world. There is a large body of evidence highlighting these harms and the chief of Ofsted has encouraged schools to ban smartphones. 

Whilst some parents will have strong parental control measures in place many others won’t and even those with controls may be unaware of the workarounds that children have come up with. It only takes one child’s smartphone to expose hundreds of other children to harmful content.

There will be some exceptional circumstances where a child does need a smartphone, for example managing their diabetes. Every school will set its own policy on this - please speak to your headteacher to discuss further.