Mum of Brianna Ghey calls for new law to ban mobile phones in schools
She tells us it's to protect children's mental health and safety
The mum of Cheshire teenager Brianna Ghey who was brutally murdered is calling for all schools to ban mobile phones in the hope it'll keep children safe.
Brianna was stabbed to death at a park in Warrington back in 2023.
Esther Ghey's campaign is driven by her personal experience of Brianna’s addiction to her phone extending beyond home, seriously affecting her school life – resulting in 120 safeguarding logs and 116 behaviour incidents recorded by her school.
She tells us that Brianna’s experience is not an isolated case.
Research by the Children’s Commission has shown that 79% of secondary schools are still allowing pupils to bring their mobile phones into school, and even into classrooms.
Although this is in line with Government guidance, Esther says it's simply not working with 1 in 5 pupils noting that they are disrupted everyday by others using smartphones in lessons.
Esther’s campaign – Phone Free Education – is calling for government to apply legislative measures to implement a statutory ban on mobile phones during the school day to safeguard pupils, improve behaviour, reduce truancy, improve engagement, and improve academic performance.
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