I only want to apply to schools that enforce strict rules on technology hours. My son is a decent student and talented athlete but he gets addicted to his technology and he will not be able to disengage at night if he’s granted free reign. My daughter’s school allowed the students to text any time of day or night. (Phillips Andover) My newphews attend Lawrenceville where they do turn the wifi off. Any other suggestions/intel? Thank you.
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Hill takes away freshmen’s phones at 10:30 pm and during study hall. After that year, it is not enforced.
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Deerfield has freshman place their phones in a basket during study hall. Lights out is at 10:30 for Freshman. During Sophomore year, the phones are supposed to be in the hallway outside your door. I believe WiFi turns off at 11:30 or midnight. No phones allowed during sit down meals.
To the OP - if your student is too dependent on technology & games, this will be an issue at boarding schools if he doesn’t know how to manage time effectively.
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Hotchkiss, wifi off for 9th and 10th grade during study hall, and again for the night at 11.
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Turning the WiFi off does not deter kids who want to be on their phones/computers past lights out. You’ll want to work on having him set his own realistic limits at home.
Written by a mother of a child who is NOT dependent at all on technology and still gets 1am Instagram messages from said child on occasion.
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Cate turns it off after study hours, and gets progressively later every grade. But kids have work arounds at every school. All you need is a good data plan.
Phones don’t get taken away during study hours at Cate, which happen in students’ rooms. Student can sign out to study elsewhere on campus. Phones are not allowed to be out while in public spaces during the day. At night, the rules get more lax as the kids get older. Most of the time parents are the ones getting their kids in trouble- it is hard to get time on the phone with your kid during the day. It isn’t uncommon for me to text with kiddo after 11:00. That’s ok now as a senior, but wasn’t before.
This is an excellent question to ask, btw. There’s a wide variety of study structure and enforcement from school to school. Tech regulation plays a big part in that.
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I’m not sure if DS school turns off the Wifi, but I know there are kids on “technology” plans that turn in their phones at a certain time of night. There may be other restrictions as well. My understanding is that it’s like a contract that the student, parents and school all agree to.
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Go to Hotchkiss - they barely have cell service during the day! 
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(Lawrenceville): Yes, but this doesn’t stop anyone from using their mobile hotspot. Every teacher and duty team member is aware that most boarders use their hotspots after hours; none of them care, and I’ve even heard some say that they should stop shutting it off altogether, since it has no effect.
I’m going to be honest—the reason why most people go and hotspot after lights out isn’t because they are slacking off; it’s to finish homework.
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@Golfgr8 is 100% correct. Hotchkiss kids can’t use hotspots.
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9th graders have lights out at 11:00 on school nights, but there are no technology restrictions. Other grades do not have lights out, but must be in dorm room after 9:30 for study hours. (Andover)
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Choate does not turn the wifi off. Prior to last year, the school used to turn off the wifi after about midnight. But now it is on 24/7.
I have two tech-addict kids at the school. One is particularly video game addicted. The game addict certainly experienced issues with being out of balance with his game play and other responsibilities, but has since learned how to prioritize and achieve balance. And isn’t that the point of going to boarding school? To learn how to balance work and play. Kids could also consume candy and soda 24/7 from the school store, but they learn how to achieve balance in that regard (and many others) as well.
As said upthread, most kids actually use the wifi for homework well after midnight.
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where does your child attend?
thank you. good points.
St Andrew’s has a strict phone policy. I think it’s not supposed to leave the dorm area.
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I will say that despite being a certified phone addict (unfortunately), my phone usage goes down a lot during school because I just get so busy that there’s no time for me to use it—your child may be a worse procrastinator than I, but just be reassured that they might not even need the restrictions to help them.
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Excellent question bsalum. Unfortunately I did not see any satisfactory answers to your question so I too am NOT going to send my child to a boarding school, even if she gets accepted in the top school in the country. This is a very very serious matter. For me, the only acceptable policy would be to have students turn in their phones at night, and they can get them back next morning.
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You can also just program the phone to shut off at a certain hour. My kid’s phone is useless after 9PM on weeknights, and also during school hours. He’s still a middle schooler, but I can see myself keeping those limits for his own good if he goes away.
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I am certainly not a parent, but having attended a junior boarding school that took away all electronics at night, I do not think that is a very good system. It did much more harm than good to my productivity, IMO.
I think this may be a wise choice for you. If you feel she needs an environment that controls her access to electronics to that degree, BS may not be a good fit.
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