Arnhem draws one line: how an entire city is growing up smartphone-free
Arnhem is the first Dutch city where schools, childcare and the municipality together draw one line: give your child a smartphone as late as possible. A great step - but how does your child stay on top of school then?
Until now, growing up smartphone-free was mostly something for individual schools and concerned parents. In Arnhem, something new is happening: for the first time, all school boards, childcare providers, social organizations and the municipality are drawing one shared line. Their joint advice to parents is clear: give your child a smartphone as late as possible, and no access to social media until the age of sixteen.
That makes Arnhem the first Dutch city where education, childcare and local government all carry the same message. It may sound like a detail, but it is exactly the step that makes the difference for many parents.
Not one school, but an entire city
In Arnhem's secondary schools, smartphones have not been welcome in the classroom since early 2024. That is normal by now. What's new about the Arnhem approach is the scale: the advice now also applies to primary and special education, and it comes not from a single principal but from the whole city at once.
Why does that matter so much? Because the biggest hurdle for parents is rarely conviction. Most parents already know a smartphone at a young age isn't ideal. The hurdle is peer pressure: "But all my friends have one." The moment an entire city draws the same line, that argument disappears. Your child is no longer "the only one without a phone" - it's simply how things are done in Arnhem.
What Arnhem actually advises
The advice from the Arnhem coalition comes down to two clear agreements:
It is explicitly advice, not a ban. Schools and parents make their own choice. But by making that choice with the whole city at the same time, saying "no" - and sticking to it - suddenly becomes a lot easier.
The school that already goes a step further
A great example is Montessori primary school De Binnenstad in Arnhem. It has been officially smartphone-free since February 2026 - and goes further than most schools. The protocol is as simple as it is strict: children never use a smartphone at school. But neither do parents or teachers - not even in the schoolyard at pick-up or during breaks.
The remarkable part? It works very well. By making the agreement apply to everyone, there is no debate about exceptions. No parent "quickly" looking something up in the yard, no teacher checking notifications in between. The norm is the same for everyone, and that makes it self-evident.
Whether all Arnhem schools will ultimately go this far is still uncertain - that choice is theirs to make. But De Binnenstad shows that it can be done, and that the objections parents have beforehand turn out to be smaller in practice.
The schedule problem that remains
And then there is one practical question that lingers amid all the enthusiasm. Suppose your child grows up without a smartphone, fully in line with the Arnhem approach. How do they know which classes they have tomorrow? When that maths test is? Whether the homework needs to be finished by Monday?
Because let's be honest: the schedule, homework and tests live in Somtoday or Magister - and those are only accessible via an app or website. Exactly the things you're now trying to keep out of the house.
That's the dilemma. You don't want to give your child a smartphone because of all the distraction, but the moment that phone does come into the house "for the schedule," social media is always just one swipe away. Arnhem's advice is clear, but it leaves a gap: how do you keep your child informed about school without bringing the smartphone back in?
This is where Loek fits in
Loek was built for exactly this gap. It's a small e-ink screen on your child's desk that shows the schedule, homework and tests - and nothing else. No apps, no notifications, no social media. Just the school information your child needs.
Loek automatically syncs with Somtoday and works fully independently via WiFi - no smartphone needs to be nearby. The display simply sits on the desk, visible to everyone at home, so as a parent you also see at a glance when that test was again. And thanks to the e-ink screen, the battery lasts around three months.
With the Arnhem approach, the smartphone disappears from young children's lives. But the need for school information does not. Loek bridges that gap - without bringing the smartphone back in. That way, as a parent, you can wholeheartedly say "yes" to growing up smartphone-free, without your child losing track of school.
From Arnhem to the rest of the Netherlands
Arnhem doesn't stand alone. In Wageningen there are calls to become the first smartphone-free municipality for young people up to fifteen, and in cities like Leiden parents are organizing gatherings about growing up smartphone-free. What begins in Arnhem as city-wide advice could easily become the blueprint for the rest of the Netherlands.
For parents, the message is hopeful: you're not on your own. More and more schools, cities and parents are drawing one line together. And with a solution like Loek, "no smartphone" no longer has to mean "no overview of school."
Want your child to always know what's happening at school, without a smartphone?
Discover Loek - School info without a smartphone.
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Sources: NOS, Omroep Gelderland and Flores Onderwijs. Loek helps students focus on learning by displaying school information without smartphone distractions.