In the Media: Loreto Toorak reports ‘quietly encouraging’ results from social media crackdown

Loreto Toorak has been recognised in The Sunday Herald Sun for its praise of the recent social media ban that came into effect in Australia nearly 100 days ago.

This is a reflection of the School’s commitment to student wellbeing and our EMPOWER program, through which we enable students to understand and prioritise their wellbeing and mental health.

The Herald Sun (Swan, A 2026, The Herald Sun, 22 March p.9) reports:

For years, teachers at Loreto Mandeville Hall Toorak noticed a worrying trend as 10-year-old girls arrived at school in Year 5 already active on Snapchat.

“We’re not seeing [social media use] in the way we were before, and that matters deeply,” Director of Rathfarnham (Junior School) Dr Donna Davies told the Herald Sun.

"Those early years of secondary school are such a formative time for friendships, confidence and a young woman’s understanding of herself."

The school said they had implemented a strict phone policy, especially for students in Years 4 – 7, long before the ban came into place.

“In classrooms, the phone-free environment has well and truly settled in. There is a different quality to presence. Students are more engaged, more connected to what’s happening in the room with the people around them,” she said.

“Teachers have noted that even before the social media delay came in, simply removing the physical phone changed the dynamic and students were more genuinely present.”

Dr Davies said changing how they talk about the rules, calling it a “delay” has had a significant impact.

“From the beginning, Loreto Toorak made a deliberate decision not to use the word ‘ban’,” she said.

"A ban carries a sense of punishment, of something being taken away. A delay says: this is not something we’re excluding you from forever. We’re giving you the time, the skills and the knowledge you need to enter this space thoughtfully."

“We were also very clear with both students and families about who and what we were actually delaying.

“This is not a ban on your children. It is a decision to deny a commercial platform access to your child’s data and developing mind.

Dr Davies said the early signs have been “quietly encouraging,” acknowledging the risk of social isolation for any young person trying to opt out of social media without a supportive community doing the same.

“When Loreto Toorak first introduced the phone policy, we braced for significant pushback. What happened instead was much more measured,” she said.

“Our students, particularly the older ones, have a sophisticated understanding of this issue.”

The shift comes as Australia’s world-leading social media ban hit its 100th day this week.

Read the full article: From distracted to ‘genuinely present’: Why this top school says social ban ‘matters deeply’

By Amelia Swan
Published 22 March 2026

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