Pymble Wise Phone Initiative – Phase 2 Research Report

The Pymble Institute is pleased to complete the second research report into the Pymble Wise Phone Initiative. A key finding is that the school-managed, reduced-internet access phone is helping students to achieve better focus and attention in class, as well as better sleep and time for hobbies and recreation. The second report uses data from students, parents and staff that were collected midway through the pilot year in June 2025.

The first report in the series can be read here.

The second report can be read here.

The Wise Phone initiative was launched in November 2024 and is now coming to the end of its first year. Through this work, the College aims to interrupt negative cycles of unregulated mobile phone and internet browser use by offering parents a school-managed, restricted-function mobile phone option. The research in the second report was designed to investigate how phone usage has changed since the first survey and whether student behaviours (including sleep, physical exercise, friendships and focus on schoolwork) have changed. We also compared the internet usage and online risks taken by our Year 4 to 8 students with national statistics using the Australian eSafety Commissioner’s 2022 report on the digital lives of Australian children. This excellent report, Mind the Gap, is recommended reading. 

1. An online survey administered to students and parents across Years 4 to 8. Quantitative analysis was conducted using statistical tests, including Chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis H tests, to explore the relationship between phone type and key student outcomes.
2. Qualitative insights gathered through focus group and individual interviews with College staff members to understand how the phone initiative was impacting student wellbeing and staff workload.
3. A social lab research approach was piloted with a Year 5 Mathematics class. In this participatory research approach, students generated research questions of interest to them and conducted data collection and analysis amongst their class and year group with teacher and researcher support.

The Pymble Wise Phone remains the dominant device for students across Years 4 to 7, either exclusively or combined with a smartphone. We found continued positive impacts for students using the College-managed devices, particularly in sleep, but also in their academic focus and ability to manage schoolwork.

A key finding is that Pymble Wise Phone users and students with no phone reported significantly greater focus and attention on their school work compared to those using a smartphone.

Pymble Wise Phone-only users are more likely to achieve the recommended nine or more hours of sleep (43.3%) compared to smartphone-only users (26.2%). We were also interested to learn that Pymble students reported a lower incidence of risky online behaviour, such as sending personal information or photos to strangers (2%) compared to the national figure (11%). However, the report highlights that our students are less likely to tell their teachers about a negative online experience, with older students more likely to ignore the problem or block the perpetrator. This indicates a valuable direction for continued cyber-education.

The data collection for the third phase of the research project is currently underway and will continue to support the College’s implementation, improvement and understanding of mobile phone and internet usage amongst our students.