Esther Ghey has set up the #PhoneFreeEducation campaign to petition for better protections for students
BY ELLA GAUCI, IMAGE BY GETTY/ CANVA
Esther Ghey has written to the government to call for a statutory ban on phones in schools following the murder of her daughter, Brianna Ghey, in 2023.
Founding the #PhoneFreeEducation campaign, Esther Ghey wants the government to implement a full legal ban on phones in school, suggesting funding for lockable pouches or similar alternatives. The campaign has been backed by high-profile celebrities like Kate Winslet and Stephen Graham.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Esther said that her daughter had been “completely addicted” to her phone and she would get “five phone calls a day from school from Brianna refusing to put her phone away, texting in classrooms, going to the toilets to film TikTok videos.”
She added, “As a parent, I really felt like I was failing. I didn’t know what to do.”
While schools already have the power to ban phones, the #PhoneFreeEducation campaign reports that only 7.9% of schools ask students to leave their phones in a secure place. Every day, one in five students is distracted by having their phones at school, impacting their learning and potentially their mental health.
In the open letter to Parliament, the campaign wrote: “Current guidance leaves implementation to individual schools, creating a postcode lottery, some areas manage effective restrictions, others do not.”
“Most schools are relying on children to resist a temptation even adults struggle with. It’s not fair, and it’s not working.”
Brianna’s school, Birchwood Community High School, has implemented lockable pouches to keep phones out of classrooms. Esther believes that this kind of policy would have helped to better protect her daughter.
In 2023, Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe fatally stabbed Brianna. They were both sentenced later that year.
You can find out more about the #PhoneFreeEducation campaign here: phonefreeeducation.org/
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