British Boarding School Requires Students to Use Nokia Phones, Smartphone Bans in US School Districts Too

TapTechNews July 10th news, a British boarding secondary school will require students to use old-fashioned Nokia mobile phones, and this policy goes further than a simple smartphone ban.

Eton College near Windsor in the UK has a long history and is famous for its elite education. Its famous alumni include Prince William and Prince Harry, writer Ian Fleming, and actor Tom Hiddleston. According to the US CBS, starting from this September, Eton College will implement a new mobile phone policy, requiring first-year students to leave their smartphones at home and only bring a SIM card to school, and use the Nokia feature phone provided by the school that can only make calls and send text messages.

The basis of this policy is the relevant guidelines of the UK government, which allows principals to implement a smartphone ban during the school period.

TapTechNews noted that smartphone bans and related regulations are also affecting some school districts in the US. According to the data of the US government expenditure data website Govspend, 41 states in the US have at least one school district requiring students to put their smartphones in the signal-blocking Yondr bag during the school period.

In June this year, the Los Angeles Unified School District enacted a district-wide mobile phone ban, prompting California Governor Gavin Newsom to call for the implementation of similar laws at the state level.

At the same time, David Banks, the superintendent of New York City public schools, said that he plans to implement a mobile phone ban in the next few weeks. New York State Governor Kathy Hochul is working with the state legislature to pass two new bills that will only allow students to carry mobile phones that cannot access the Internet. Florida has also implemented a statewide school smartphone ban, which also requires schools to prevent students from accessing social media through the school's Wi-Fi.