Just over a year ago, girls’ private boarding school Frensham decided to ban smartphones in its junior high school, mandating the use of basic, old-school Nokia “brick” phones.

The switch was not without its teething problems as students, especially those in years 8 and 9, struggled for weeks to adjust to life without social media.

For year 8 student Lorelai Del Tufo, the biggest shift was losing daily access to Instagram messages and being unable to use FaceTime to call home. “Texting takes a lot longer on a Nokia. I also miss having that downtime of listening to music, or watching a movie on my phone.”

Frensham School boarding students (from left) Evi Gandhi, Hattie Snodgrass and Lorelai Del Tufo swapped their smartphones for Nokia bricks this year. Credit: Kate Geraghty

But the

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