Mum of Brianna Ghey calling on Government to ban phones in schools
Esther Ghey says the ban will help safeguard children and improve behaviour in schools
Last updated 3rd Sep 2025
The mum of Brianna Ghey who was murdered in Warrington is calling for a nationwide ban on mobile phones in schools, in the hopes it'll keep children safe.
Esther Ghey is launching the campaign to make it law to remove mobile phones from schools to safeguard pupils and improve behaviour and engagement in class.
The 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.
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.
According to ParentKind, 1 in 5 pupils say 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.
Esther said: "There's harmful content, on social media, there's a lot of parents now that are very concerned about what their children are accessing online.
"Teachers have told me that there are cases of children showing other children hardcore porn, children showing other children beheading videos.
"There're also cases of teachers being filmed in the classroom and then uploaded on social media to be ridiculed or to have really horrific allegations made against them.
"I've been in this space now for around two years and every single week I hear stories that still continue to shock me."
Brianna's high school in Birchwood have banned phones for one year now and Esther said it has had a huge impact: "I went to school to see the children putting their phones in the pouches and it was absolutely seamless.
"I spoke to a few of the students and they said after having that six hour break from their phone they realised that they don't need to be on their phone all of the time and they're having a lot less screen time at home too."
The campaign has already been backed by a number of high-profile celebrities and relevant organisations, with an open letter gaining public and professional support being delivered to 10 Downing Street and an event hosted in Parliament in October.