Esther Ghey, mother of murdered teenager Brianna Ghey, and Oscar-winning actor Kate Winslet are urging Prime Minister Keir Starmer to introduce a legal ban on smartphones in schools. They warn that current guidance has created a 'postcode lottery', with only 11% of secondary schools fully banning phones.
Ghey said a ban would have 'solved so many issues' for her daughter, who was 'sucked away from society and into the online world'. Brianna, 16, was killed by two teenagers in February 2023. Her school later introduced a pouch system, which Ghey said led to a noticeable increase in face-to-face socialising among pupils.
The government has resisted a legal ban, insisting headteachers can act independently. However, research by the children's commissioner found that while 90% of schools have some restrictions, only 3.5% ban phones from grounds and 7.9% require them to be handed in all day.
The new Phone Free Education campaign, backed by actor Stephen Graham, boxer Frank Bruno, singer Will Young, Mumsnet, and author Jonathan Haidt, calls for a statutory ban with funding for lockable pouches. In an open letter, they argue that relying on children to resist temptation is 'not fair' and 'not working'.
Winslet, who played a mother struggling with a daughter's social media use in Channel 4's I Am Ruth, said: 'Every child deserves to be in classrooms free from the distraction and highly addictive nature of smartphones.' Ghey highlighted that Brianna's phone use led to 120 safeguarding issues and 116 behaviour incidents.
