I’m Esther Ghey and I’ve started this campaign for #PhoneFreeEducation to protect our children in schools.

In February 2023, my daughter Brianna was murdered by two other children. They had been consuming extreme content online, including dark web torture videos. Brianna, too, had been exposed to harmful material online.

In the months before her death, she was battling anorexia, self-harm, and isolation, all exacerbated by harmful online content. Her education suffered: she skipped lessons to go on TikTok, refused to hand over her phone at school, and struggled to engage.

Since then I’ve met so many other parents concerned about their children, teachers struggling to enforce phone bans in schools and students being punished for when they inevitably give in to temptation.

I believe school should be a place of focus, connection and protection for our children. I want to use my story to campaign for change for every child. I hope you will join me.