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Eton College, one of the world’s most prestigious boarding schools, is planning to ban smartphones for its incoming first-year students and replace these with old-school Nokia phones instead, a spokesperson for the school confirmed to Business Insider.
The new policy comes as the UK-based school grapples with managing student’s educations alongside technological developments.
“Eton routinely reviews our mobile phone and devices policy to balance the benefits and challenges that technology brings to schools,” a spokesperson told BI.
“From September those joining in Year 9 will receive a ‘brick’ phone for use outside the school day, as well as a School-issued iPad to support academic study. Age-appropriate controls remain in place for other year groups,” they added.
Eton College is an exclusive boarding school located outside London, near Windsor. Prince William, Prince Harry, Tom Hiddleston, and Eddie Redmayne are among its best-known alumni.
The school is also known for educating several future prime ministers, including David Cameron and Boris Johnson.
The new policy goes a step further than Eton’s previous rules on smartphones.
In 2018, it brought in a policy that required first-year students to hand over their smartphones overnight.
“Dumb phones,” or “brick phones,” allow people to make calls and send messages but not access the internet.
There has been a resurgence in the popularity of these devices in recent years, partly driven by young people involved in emerging movements to disconnect from social media.