With growing concerns about the impact of mobile phones on young people’s wellbeing, a newly-announced event at Chester Festival of Ideas will bring together leading voices to discuss how the issue can be addressed in schools.
A panel discussion about mobile phones in schools
Esther Ghey, Founder of the Brianna Ghey Legacy Project; Dan Price, Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire, and Tom Kearns, Headteacher at Queen’s Park High School (QPHS), will be part of a panel looking at the challenge on Thursday, July 2. The University of Chester’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Eunice Simmons, will chair the free event – Mobile phones in schools: Necessary tool or toxic distraction? – running from 5.30pm to 6.45pm at Chester Town Hall.
Katherine Wilson, Director of Chester Festival of Ideas and Professor at the University of Chester, said:
Research indicates that 90% of children own a mobile phone by their eleventh birthday, but with increasing concerns about their effect on mental health and online safety, this event will look at the questions of: how do we find the right balance, and how do we implement policies that are manageable for schools and supportive of both the education and wellbeing of children and young people? With increasing pressure on schools to act, what are the challenges they face and how might these be addressed? Join our panellists and chair for a discussion about this crucial issue.
Online safety and Phone Free Education
Esther Ghey, as a campaigner and founder of the Brianna Ghey Legacy Project, is leading work in her daughter’s memory. The Project supports the mental health and wellbeing of young people and families across the UK, and Esther is a leading voice on online safety and Phone Free Education. She has taken her campaign to the House of Commons, appeared widely across national media, is the author of Under a Pink Sky, and was named The Independent’s Most Influential Woman in 2024 as well as one of GQ’s Heroes of the Year. Esther has also been awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of Chester in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the mental health of young people and their families.
Dan Price was elected as Cheshire Police and Crime Commissioner in May 2024. His Police and Crime Plan sets out three core pillars – reducing crime, listening to the public and modernising policing. He has led a major initiative to make schools phone-free, helping Cheshire become a national leader on the issue. Under his leadership, around three quarters of state high schools in Cheshire have adopted or plan to introduce lockable phone pouches, with a clear target of reaching 100%.
Tom Kearns is the Headteacher of Handbridge Campus at QPHS and Chester International School (CIS). Tom has worked in education for more than 22 years, with 18 of those spent in senior leadership roles. Throughout his career, he has gained extensive experience across a wide range of schools in the North West of England, bringing a deep understanding of different contexts and communities.
Professor Eunice Simmons has been Vice-Chancellor at Chester since January 2020. Her priorities include modernising the University’s courses and services through responsible use of new technologies, chairing TASO – the national charity supporting access to Higher Education and promoting biodiversity and social justice projects in the UK and globally.
Free places for the Mobile phones in schools: Necessary tool or toxic distraction? event can be booked at: https://festivalofideas.chester.ac.uk/event/mobile-phones-in-schools-necessary-tool-or-toxic-distraction/
The panel discussion is one of more than 100 free events taking place as part of the University-led Chester Festival of Ideas. Celebrating imagination, inspiration, learning, culture and the city, the calendar highlight is returning for the third time, from Thursday July 2 to Sunday July 5. For more information and to book further events, from talks by famous and high-profile figures to science shows and art workshops, please visit: https://festivalofideas.chester.ac.uk
All pictures provided by University of Cheshire.
