Phones banned after discovery on pupil's device left at school over night

PARENTS HAVE BEEN TOLD SMARTPHONES WILL NO LONGER BE ALLOWED NEIL SHAW Assistant Editor 09:45, 04 Jun 2025Updated 12:50, 04 Jun 2025 A school has banned phones after a pupil's device

was found with 9,000 messages sent in just one night on a school WhatsApp group. Children at Blackhorse Primary School in Bristol will no longer be allowed to bring phones to school after a

debate around safety was sparked when a pupil forgot to pick up their mobile at the end of the day. For the past couple of years, pupils had been allowed to bring smartphones to school, but

had to hand them in to the teacher during lesson time. On one occasion, a phone was accidently left in the teacher’s cupboard overnight - and was returned to the pupil the next day with

9,000 notifications on it. Shocked at the discovery of so much activity on the year six social media group and a potential rise in cyber-bullying, a debate was launched about whether they

should be allowed in schools. And writing in a blog, executive headteacher Simon Botten said the decision made to ban them had been backed by the majority of parents, although some had

reservations about the move. A similar ban at Blackhorse's sister school Emersons Green is also set to come into force but needs to be ratified by governors. Mr Botten wrote: "“The

teacher picked up the phone, waking it, only to see a notification of 9,000 missed messages from the Year 6 pupil WhatsApp group overnight. Nine thousand messages in a 15-hour overnight

period. “After nearly two decades in headship, I have watched this technological phenomenon unfold slowly. At first it was imperceptible: the odd argument via old-fashioned texts, the odd

child seeing something online which they shouldn’t (always at home). But over the years I have seen the risks grow ever more significant and ever more frequent. Article continues below “A

rise in cyberbullying on WhatsApp; of primary school aged children sending inappropriate images to one another; of children retreating into an online world and seeing less and less of their

actual friends in actual parks; of children glued to their phones the moment they are given them back at the end of the day. “And then something much darker. A rise in predatory strangers

approaching children online in their bedrooms whilst their parents watch Eastenders downstairs. Near miss, after near miss. But, the thing is, if you have enough near misses – the chances of

a collision rises to 100 per cent. “So around a year ago, we started a debate at Blackhorse and Emersons Green. We sought to answer a simple question: should our schools become Smartphone

free?" Groups of parents were set up to consult on the issue before a wider consultation on the possibility of an outright ban. Mr Botten added: “The safety argument was fairly

understandable: how will I know my child is safe whilst walking to/ from school if I can’t contact them?” the executive headteacher said. “Interestingly, we had several parents who were also

police officers attend these discussions and their voices proved very persuasive, arguing that parents massively over-estimate dangers in the real world and massively under-estimate dangers

in the digital world. “We navigated this argument by agreeing that, if a child had to walk to school alone, then they could bring in a simple ‘brick’ phone (texts and calls only) which

could be bought for as little as £10. We also reminded parents that the IMS app on their phone showed when their child was registered each day, and the school would always phone them (as we

alway have done) if their child didn’t arrive at school. “The second argument was centred around liberty and the school over-reaching its authority to dictate whether parents bought their

child a smartphone. Quite rightly, the parents pointed out (in the nicest possible way) that this was none of the school’s business. We countered this argument by explaining that we would

not be preventing parents buying their child a smartphone, just preventing them bringing it to school. "We made it clear that this was to support parents who wished to delay buying

their child a smartphone by removing the peer pressure which existed on the playground before school where children would flaunt their smartphone prior to handing it in. It made it clear

that the school would not tacitly condone smartphone ownership by collecting in children’s phones each morning and then handing them back at the end of the day." The school has also

brought in specialists from the police to talk to parents about the dangers of children being unsupervised online. Mr Botten added: “The first step we took was to ask Avon & Somerset

Police to lead a workshop for parents on the harms – in terms of sexual and criminal abuse – which they see as a result of predatory individuals approaching young people locally online. “The

parents, well over 100 from Blackhorse alone, sat in stunned silence. By the time the second repeat event at Emersons took place another 50 or so Blackhorse parents attended that one too –

as word spread about the plain-talking police officer laying out for parents some of the real-world risks which they saw play out in Bristol every day. “The police had far greater impact

here than any educationalist. By the end there was a feeling in the room that something must be done – although at that point we didn’t know what,” he added. The school conducted a survey

which showed 87 per cent of parents at the larger Blackhorse Primary School in favour of the outright ban, while at Emersons Green Primary it was a lot more split - 58 to 42 in favour of the

ban. Governors at Blackhorse had the ultimate decision, and they voted that the ban is to come into force in September. Governors at Emersons Green are yet to have their vote. Mr Botten

added: "Since announcing the result, I have had zero emails from parents complaining about the ban, whereas I have had a good many parents thank the school for taking a stand."

Article continues below Speaking outside the school this week, parents welcomed the ban but others questioned the fact the school had previously encouraged children to buy smartphones. Lee

Budd, father of Jonnie, eight, said: “I don’t think it’s a bad idea at all. Phones consume attention.” A mother of a Year 5 student and a former Blackhorse pupil, now in Year 7 at another

school, said: “It was the school that encouraged us to get a phone for my Year 7 daughter so she could walk to school on her own. “I feel neutral, really, but I don’t see why they need to

change the current rule of leaving the phone in a box at the start and end of the day.”