Time to say no to phones for kids?

Brianna Ghey's mum speaks out about her daughter's murder as she shares her fears over children using smartphones

- Amy Jones

Smartphones have climbed up the Christmas wish list for many children, with some as young as primary school age requesting a device for easy access to social media, messaging apps and cameras.

A Vodafone study found phones to be at the top of the Christmas list for a third of children aged between 10 to 14 years old, with 55% of parents concerned about their online safety.

Hannah Oertel from Delay Smartphones believes this type of gift can cause "catastrophic harm". She tells us, "Children are going to do things their parents would rather they didn't do.

Teenagers are rebellious. As parents, we have the power and responsibility to protect our children and smartphones are causing catastrophic harm to kids, yet we give them the most addictive device ever created." One parent who has experienced the detrimental effects of smartphone use and is campaigning for stricter online safety rules to be in place for those under 16 is Esther Ghey, the mum of Brianna Ghey, who was tragically murdered aged 16 in a planned attack in a Cheshire park on 11 February, 2023.

Teenagers Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe, both 15 years old at the time, were sentenced to 22 years and 20 years respectively after they used their phones to plan the "horrifying" attack, in which Brianna was stabbed 28 times. When detectives seized the defendants' mobile phones and analysed them, they found "thousands of deleted text messages" exchanged between them, which proved they "had discussed their sadistic fantasies for months prior to the attack," Cheshire Police reported.

The messages showed there had been previous attempts to end Brianna's life. Jenkinson was also found to have had access to the so-called dark web, where she watched videos of torture and murder before Brianna's attack.

VIOLENCE ON SOCIAL MEDIA