School bans smartphones after 9,000 messages sent in one night on whatsapp

THE HEADTEACHER OF BLACKHORSE PRIMARY SCHOOL IN BRISTOL, HAS BANNED SMARTPHONES FOR PUPILS AFTER A CHILD'S PHONE WAS FOUND WITH 9,000 MESSAGES SENT ON A YEAR'S WHATSAPP GROUP VINCE

SOODIN Assistant Editor (Digital) and SWNSTOM (TOM BEVAN) 11:27, 04 Jun 2025 A school has put the kibosh on smartphones after a student's mobile was found to have received a whopping

9,000 messages in just one night from a year group's WhatsApp chat. Blackhorse Primary School in Bristol has decided that kids can no longer bring their smartphones to school. This

comes after safety concerns were raised when a pupil left their mobile behind at the end of the day. For the past few years, students had been allowed to bring their smartphones to school,

but they had to hand them over to the teacher during class time. On one occasion, a phone was accidentally left in the teacher's cupboard overnight - and was handed back to the student

the next day with a staggering 9k notifications on it. Stunned by the sheer volume of activity on the Year 6 social media group and potential cyber-bullying risks, a debate was sparked about

whether they should be allowed in schools at all. In a blog post, executive headteacher Simon Botten revealed that the decision to ban them had been supported by most parents, although some

had reservations about the move. Article continues below A similar ban is also set to be implemented at Blackhorse's sister school, Emersons Green, but needs to be approved by

governors. Mr Botten penned: "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. " The headteacher of Blackhorse

and Emersons Green schools, Simon Botten, has raised the alarm over the growing dangers children face online. He recounted: "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. "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. "He also highlighted a chilling trend:

"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." Article continues below Bringing in the ban triggered fears over

children travelling to and from school alone. Mr Botten said: "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.