Statutory ban on phones at school is now crucial

Fathers seeking to legally challenge government guidance on phones in schools have gained significant new support, with a teenager and a mother-of-three joining the planned action.

- Jasmine Norden, The Independent

government guidance on phones in schools have gained significant new support, with a teenager and a mother-of-three joining the planned action, Flossie McShea, 17, and Katie Moore, 43, have added their support to Will Orr-Ewing and Pete Montgomery's claim for a judicial review, which seeks to have smartphones completely banned in schools.

Miss McShea, who has joined as a claimant, says she feels the Department for Education (DfE}) has failed to protect her and other children from harm inflicted by phones during school hours.

She said using smartphones “completely changed my life from year 7 onwards”.

“| was exposed to illicit and violent videos, like beheading videos. | was sent a video of two young children who had found a gun and one of them accidentally shot the other one,” Miss McShea said. “I had to go home. There were a lot of incidents like that and a lot of my friends had the same experiences.

“all of this really happens at school because you can see live reactions, We're all gathered in this place, so people feel it’s much more appealing to share this stuff online when you can get a reaction from 30 kids in the classroom.