Overview

• Esther Ghey issued an open letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson seeking a statutory ban on pupil phone use during the school day with medical and accessibility exemptions.
• The proposal asks the government to fund secure storage such as lockable pouches, citing Birchwood Community High School’s scheme and reported gains in focus, wellbeing and social interaction.
• The letter is backed by high-profile supporters including Kate Winslet and Stephen Graham, alongside MPs and parent groups.
• Children’s Commissioner data show wide variation in practice, with only 3.5% of secondary schools banning phones from school grounds and 7.9% requiring hand-in for the entire day despite most having some restrictions.
• Ghey points to 120 safeguarding logs and 116 behaviour incidents linked to her daughter’s phone use at school as evidence that tighter, consistent controls are needed.