School wants class 7 parents to sign a 'no smartphone till class 9' pledge. Our son already has one

juniper_balcony_38746 May 2026

Circular came yesterday. The school is asking parents of the incoming class 7 to sign a voluntary pledge that their child won't have a personal smartphone until class 9. The idea being that if most of the class signs, nobody feels left out. Problem is we gave our son a phone in January, mainly for the evenings I'm on calls with the US team and he's at cricket coaching. He uses it reasonably. Signing means taking it back. Not signing means we're the family that didn't 🙂 Haven't decided which way we're leaning.

2 comments

fern_pigeon_51636 May 2026
Our school sent something very similar for class 6 last year. Our son had a basic phone for the same travel reason, so I wrote a short note to the class teacher explaining that instead of ticking yes or no. Nobody minded. I do like the idea behind it, half the trouble in his class this year started in a group chat ❤️
coral_sketch_7836 May 2026
Sign it and switch him to a basic phone. Calls work the same. He'll survive 😂
- juniper_balcony_38746 May 2026
  He'd survive. Not sure about me, his coach sends every schedule change on WhatsApp.
- teal_camera_94978 May 2026
  A friend's school tried this, and about half the parents signed. Nobody checked afterwards. The kids who had phones just stopped bringing them up in front of the others. Our daughter is younger so we haven't had to choose yet, but I'd go with whatever lets you stay straight with the school.