A clearer standard for school-appropriate phones
Smartphone Free Schools Rating is launching a new rating system for ‘simple’ phones, designed to help parents and schools identify safer handsets for children.
As more schools introduce ‘brick phone only’ policies, demand for simple call and text phones has grown. At the same time, the market is becoming harder to navigate. Many devices sit somewhere between a smartphone and a simple phone, including a new wave of minimalist phones that are aimed at adults rather than children. Working out which phones are age appropriate, and which will comply with a school's policy, is no longer straightforward.
The new rating will help to cut through the noise and easily identify simple phones that reduce risks to children. Phones awarded a 'gold' rating will comply universally with school simple phone policies*. To qualify, a handset must meet three essential criteria for maximum safety and simplicity:
Free from social media
Free from a browser
Free from a camera
The handset should also be easily distinguishable from a classic smartphone. This helps teachers to implement their school phone policies with confidence, knowing at a glance whether they are dealing with a simple phone or a smartphone.
The rating is being developed with headteachers, health professionals and industry experts. This includes a collaboration with Health Professionals for Safer Screens, because it is so important to ground these standards in whole child health.
Arabella Skinner from Health Professionals for Safer Screens says, “Everyone will have their own view on what features a child should have on a phone. Doctors, developmental specialists and child psychologists see the effects every day — disrupted sleep, reduced attention, emotional strain and pressure on children’s emerging social identity. Their clinical experience offers an objective, health‑focused understanding of what is safe for children and what risks are too great to overlook.”
The rating is also being developed with input from The Brainsafe Standard, whose focus is on addictive and compulsive design. Andrew Wilmot, Director of The Brainsafe Standard, says, “Device manufacturers recognise there is a demand for genuinely low engagement devices, and there are now several devices that aim to be a child's "first phone", but this is the gold standard. Whether for schools looking for what phones to allow children to bring on site, or parents considering what device their child should have out and about, the Gold Rated list is the first place to look”
The rating is also being developed in collaboration with Generation Focus, a schools campaign group that works closely with headteachers, gaining insights into the implementation of school phone policies, and resourcing schools to become smartphone free. Along with Smartphone Free Schools Rating, they contribute a headteachers' perspective into the development of the standard.
Working with these organisations will allow Smartphone Free Schools Rating to say with a high level of confidence which features are safe enough to include.
This launch is just the beginning of the project. The rating will continue to be developed in greater depth, working with experts and gathering further research. For more information, visit the phone rating page.
* A simple phone school policy is one which bans smartphones from site, but allows a simple phone (such as a brick phone) to be brought onto site. Find out more about school policy ratings.
End notes
Health Professionals for Safer Screens - healthprofessionalsforsaferscreens.org
HPFSS is a volunteer collective of Health Professionals who are concerned about the impact of screens on whole-child health. They highlight potential impacts across development, physical health, mental health and academic attainment. The organisation provides research-informed education and resources for healthcare professionals and families, while advocating for safer approaches to children’s screen use.
The Brainsafe Standard - brainsafestandard.co.uk
BrainSafe provides the industry's first structured certification program specifically focused on addictive and compulsive design. We equip professionals with the knowledge to identify manipulative patterns, the frameworks to design ethically, and the credentials to prove their expertise.
BrainSafe independently assesses apps, devices and platforms against the AIAF framework for non-addictive design.
Generation Focus - www.generationfocus.org
The Generation Focus mission is to give every child in the UK the benefits of a smartphone free day - so pupils can focus, learn and thrive, free from the burden of addictive-by-design technology. We want every school in the UK to be genuinely smartphone free, meaning children can only take a simple phone onto school premises. This not only protects the school day - it helps parents delay giving smartphones to their children in the first place.
