Towards the end of last academic year we announced some changes to the functioning of our student smartphone lockers. Originally these boxes were conceived of as a tool for students to use in protecting their own attention. We had hoped, over time, that more and more students would opt into the use of this particular human technology. However, as we have discovered, it is those students who need most to use their locker that are the least likely to do so. 

In short, given the many ways in which phones are engineered to hook our attention, it should not surprise us that children want to use them. What this points to is the need for children’s use of technology to be well scaffolded: for smartphones to make later-in-life appearances, for strong norms around their use, for good parental role modelling, for software controls and for schools to offer clear and consistent support.

There need be no shame or guilt attached to the observation that children love to use smartphones. Indeed, rather than pointing towards the inability of children to control their use of such devices, we are better served by noting the compulsion-by-design inherent in modern smartphones. Once we acknowledge this, we can put in place measures to help children spend their time in better ways.

And so, as we have started this school year, we have been pleased to see phone lockers being well used by students. One result of this is that where we used to see a small number of phones being used surreptitiously around school, we are now seeing almost none. This is reassuring, as it is another contributor towards a school that preserves and promotes focus, and in which engagement in learning is deep and enjoyable. 

As research has shown, a smartphone out of sight is far likelier to be a smartphone out of mind: something we all need more of.