Elite schools' push to delay smartphones for children splits Toowoomba parents

YOUR SAY: Three elite Toowoomba schools have sparked fierce debate after announcing plans to delay smartphone ownership until year 7, with safety fears dividing parents.

A push by three elite Toowoomba schools to delay smartphone ownership among their students until high school has split residents, with one woman describing a scary near-miss that reinforced the need for children to have devices.

Toowoomba Grammar, Fairholme College and Glennie last month united to introduce an “Australia-first” Smartphone Delay Initiative (SDI) in 2026.

Under the measure, parents would be encouraged to push back buying a smartphone for their kids until the end of year 7, with the schools citing research linking the technology to a range of harmful social and health effects for children and teenagers.

It arrives as the federal government’s new social media ban for children under 16 comes into effect.

“We know about smartphones and the addictive elements of social media in particular, not to mention the wellbeing and mental health implications of negative social media use, (and) we’ve been very concerned about that,” Grammar headmaster Dr John Kinniburgh told News Corp.

“The whole initiative came from a desire to try and partner with our families and help them with what we know are challenging conversations at home.”

There is now a push for more schools to join the initiative, which Dr Kinniburgh said could become school policy and even expanded to include older students.

While Chronicle readers came out strongly in favour of a wide-ranging ban on smartphones for primary school-aged children, with non-scientific polling revealing 95 per cent support for it, others cited safety concerns.

Toowoomba mother Janet Howie described an incident involving her staff member’s children, where they were allegedly followed on the bus by a man but had no way to contact their parents.

“In year 6 I gave both my sons a phone as they were catching the bus home from school — more than once they had to call me at work to come get them,” she wrote on social media, in response to the story.

“One of my staff did not give her girls a phone (and) with the bus system at the time they had to change buses three times to get home.

“One day they were followed by a man lucky they were smart enough to not get on the last bus and came to work and I drove them home, but that could have been a very bad situation.

“Kids need to have a mobile for safety reasons especially for getting to and from school.”

Several readers said parents had the right to decide what was best for their child, while others said they had embraced “dumb phones” (ie, simply brick or flip phones) to ensure they could still reach their kids in an emergency.

Here’s what you said online:

Support for ‘dumb’ phone alternatives

Ebony Gorman

My high school child still does not have a smart phone and won’t until he is 16+. He wouldn’t have a phone at all if it wasn’t required for bus travel. There is no need. After seeing all the issues that other kids have at school with bullying and phone related incidents he is grateful and understands why he only has a good old Nokia.

Tiffany Houldsworth

My year 5’er keeps asking. But she isn’t getting one till high school. And even then I want it to be a dumb one.

M An R Murrell

All kids should have a mobile AND The one rule should be an app that allows direct dial to parents and parent to child with no other apps or services available (blocked). Safety for the children is paramount on todays market.

Gemma Michael

Yes … they don’t need a smart phone. They can have a dumb phone.

Daz Martin

My kids have a smart watch that they can contact us in case of emergencies during school times. You simply set the restricted times on it so during school hours they are limited. No need for the phones at that age.

Parental choice and autonomy

Kate Wills

How about parents be allowed to parent their children their own way and relevant to their own circumstances. There is no one size fits all. What is right for one family may not be for the next.

Tianna Maree

It’s a parents choice!!!!!! Doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks my children my decision!!!

Dani Chapman

Schools and the government need to leave the parenting to the parents. My kids only have mum, dad each other and their grandparents number. I control the phone they cant add apps unless I approve.

Tom Willoughby

It is time for parents to take control of what their kids are doing! Stop asking everyone else to parent their kids?

Christine Jones

Parents decision., no one else’s. Using during school hours ban but nothing else.

Safety trumps social bans

Clobo White

My daughter has a phone so I can text my daughter to let her know if I’m going to be late or if someone else is going to pick her up and so the person picking her up can call her. She usually plays on the playground with her friends after school so it’s good when I can see where exactly she is on maps.

Phiona Gibson

I gave one to my son at the age of 7, so he could contact me when he was with his dad for a week or a weekend if he needed.

Carol Richardson

No definitely not sure they shouldn’t use them in class or in the playground unless they have permission for whatever reason, some parents mobile phones are necessary for a multitude of reasons. We should teach children to have restraint not take things away from them.

Jayne Proberts

Our rule was age 12. When they are that age they catch the bus home from school and we need them to be able to contact us.