Children as young as seven are being given smartphones, with some primary school pupils consuming harmful misogynistic content, a headteacher has said.
Sophia Dover, headteacher at Cheriton Primary School near Folkestone in Kent, says the school is to support campaigners by implementing a smartphone ban in September after problems with pupil WhatsApp groups and social media sites such as Snapchat.
She is calling for a national ban, citing examples from another school where pupils set up an “Andrew Tate club”, based on the self-styled misogynist, after consuming harmful content on social media.
A government spokesperson said it had issued “clear guidance” to teachers on restricting phone use.
‘Scared for the future’
Ms Dover, who has been headteacher at the school for two years, said WhatsApp groups were “another way that bullying can happen”.
“We have had children who have got themselves in a right state because they take their phones to their bedrooms and are sending messages at three o’clock in the morning,” she said.
“I’m really scared for the future. The thought of my seven-year-old having a phone is absolutely petrifying.”
The headteacher said issues with social media had occurred with children as young as seven, in Year 3, while peer pressure for parents to give their children smartphones was commonplace by Year 5.
She added that the school had been forced to take into account whether implementing a smartphone ban would affect its Ofsted inspection over fears it could negatively impact parents’ perception of the school.
Discussing the decision to implement the ban, she added: “We were due Ofsted, and it shouldn’t be the case, but it can make or break a school.
“Parent questionnaires are looked at in great detail and Ofsted could stop school places being filled.”
