Father known as the police when college in London stopped letting youngsters usher in cellphones – however headteacher desires a nationwide ban and says primary-aged pupils are hooked on porn

A father contacted the police when a school in London stopped letting students bring in mobile phones. 

The state school, which has asked to remain anonymous, introduced the ban on smartphones in September last year, and said it hopes there will one day be a nationwide ban. 

They say enforcing the ban independently is difficult, and have called for government-led restrictions. 

One parent was so angered by the policy they contacted the authorities, and officers were subsequently sent to the school. The parent also reported the school to Ofsted. 

Around 40 phones were confiscated in the first few weeks after the ban was introduced. Four were removed this year.  

Speaking to The Times, the headteacher said: ‘It would be so much easier if there were no phones in education. We need a government ban on smartphones. 

‘It’s been really freeing not to have phones in schools.’ 

He added that pupils had arrived from primary school addicted to porn, or being subjected to bullying online. 

As a result of the ban, the school has seen a 90 per cent reduction in child sexual exploitation safeguarding incidents. 

The state school in London, which has asked to remain anonymous, introduced the ban on smartphones in September last year (stock image) 

The school says enforcing the ban independently is difficult, and has called for government-led restrictions (stock image) 

It comes after a teenager and a mother-of-three joined as claimants in legal action against the Government’s refusal to ban smartphones in schools.

Flossie McShea, 17, and Katie Moore, 43, added their support to a claim for judicial review set up by two fathers in July of this year.

The legal challenge was launched by Will Orr-Ewing, 40, and Pete Montgomery, 45, who both have primary-aged children and are running local campaigns. 

Earlier this week, Miss McShea, from Devon, said the Department for Education (DfE) failed to protect her and other children from online harms during the school day. 

She said smartphones ‘completely changed my life from Year 7 onwards’, adding: ‘I was exposed to pornography and violent videos, like beheading videos. I was sent a video of two young children who had found a gun and one of them accidentally shot the other one.

‘I had to go home.

‘If we didn’t have phones in school, I wouldn’t have been exposed to things that I would not want to be exposed to.’

Northampton mother Mrs Moore is also joining the claim after her daughter, now 18, told her she had been shown sexually explicit images in school changing rooms on phones. 

She believes a complete statutory ban on phones at school is the only solution and said ‘out of sight’ policies for phone use in schools do not go far enough. 

Ministers have claimed it is ‘unnecessary’ to impose a statutory ban because most schools already have restrictions in place voluntarily.

However, a survey by the Children’s Commissioner found eight in ten secondaries allow pupils to bring phones in and one in ten allow unfettered use.

A teenager and a mother-of-three have joined as claimants in legal action against the Government’s refusal to ban smartphones in schools (pictured: Flossie McShea)

Flossie McShea, 17, and Katie Moore (pictured), 43, have added their support to a claim for judicial review set up by two fathers earlier this year

More than 60,000 students in Barnet, north London, were affected by a new rule, which prohibited them from bringing their devices into the classroom from September (stock image) 

It comes after Esther Ghey, mother of murdered teenager Brianna Ghey, said locking mobile phones away in pouches at the start of the school day would create ‘safer and more focused classrooms‘.

She has campaigned against phones after discovering her transgender daughter’s 15-year-old murderers had accessed violent content online.

She believes phone pouches in schools would have given Brianna ‘a better chance in life’.

Such cases prompted a London council to become the first in the country to ban smartphones from all of its schools earlier this year. 

More than 60,000 students in Barnet, north London, were affected by the rule, which prohibited them from bringing their devices into the classroom from September onwards. 

In total, there are 103 primary schools and 23 secondary schools in the borough that have banned smartphones. 

All the schools in the borough also sent letters to parents, recommending that they do not give their children smartphones until they are at least 14, and that social media use should be restricted until 16. 

Barnet was the first council to include secondary schools in a phone ban. Meanwhile, Ealing, St Albans, Cambridgeshire, Petersfield and Hampshire all have prohibited phone use in primary schools.