{"id":263842,"date":"2025-07-14T09:18:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-14T09:18:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/263842\/"},"modified":"2025-07-14T09:18:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T09:18:11","slug":"all-schoolchildren-in-england-could-face-strict-new-ban-after-legal-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/263842\/","title":{"rendered":"All schoolchildren in England could face strict new &#8216;ban&#8217; after legal action"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Orr-Ewing said there was evidence that devices were being used to access harmful \u201cvery violent or sexual\u201d content or for cyberbullying.<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0_classroom.jpg\" alt=\"All schoolchildren in England could face strict new 'ban' after legal action\" loading=\"eager\"  \/>All schoolchildren in England could face strict new &#8216;ban&#8217; after legal action<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">All schoolchildren in England face a new &#8220;ban&#8221; after dads launched legal action. Fathers are calling on the <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/all-about\/labour-party\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Labour Party<\/a> government to ban smartphones in England\u2019s schools.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Two fathers told the education secretary they will seek judicial review in bid for statutory ban to safeguard children. Will Orr-Ewing and Pete Montgomery wrote to the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Orr-Ewing said there was evidence that devices were being used to access harmful \u201cvery violent or sexual\u201d content or for cyberbullying.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \"><a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/news\/midlands-news\/experian-makes-major-change-millions-32052313\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">READ MORE Experian makes major change with millions of users set to benefit<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cWe know that when children use smartphones they usually don\u2019t do it in a safe way,\u201d he said. \u201cParents have told us about boys being filmed naked in the PE changing rooms and then shared across the school.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Girls were \u201cbeing manipulated by predators on messaging platforms during lessons and in school toilets\u201d and \u201ctiny children\u201d were being shown \u201cgraphic pornography\u201d on the school bus by other children, he added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The fathers said a ban on smartphones was a \u201cno-brainer\u201d, and argued that children should only have \u201cbrick phones\u201d to communicate with parents if needed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cA statutory ban would be a huge relief for headteachers and parents alike,\u201d Montgomery said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The DfE said: \u201cSchools already have the power to ban phones, and we support headteachers to take the necessary steps to prevent disruption, backed by our clear guidance on how to restrict their use.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">&#8220;We know there are wider issues with children\u2019s online experiences, which is why we are also bringing in better protections from harmful content through the Online Safety Act.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The Department for Education now has 14 days to officially respond to the letter, after which point the claimants can issue judicial review proceedings.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">It comes as the UK\u2019s chief media regulator has promised age verification checks will prove a \u201creally big moment\u201d in the battle to keep children safe online.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Melanie Dawes, the head of Ofcom, said on Sunday that the new checks, which have to be in place later this month, would prove a turning point in regulating the behaviour of the world\u2019s biggest online platforms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Orr-Ewing said there was evidence that devices were being used to access harmful \u201cvery violent or sexual\u201d content&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":263843,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5008],"tags":[748,2266,393,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-263842","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-england","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-education","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114850844197256989","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263842"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263842\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/263843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}