A Year 6 Pupil Received 9,000 Messages Overnight – Here's What Happened Next

A headteacher has opened up about the eye-opening moment a teacher at his school looked at a Year 6 pupil’s phone – only to find they’d received 9,000 messages overnight. Simon Botten, executive headteacher of two primary schools in Bristol, one of which is Blackhorse Primary School, said the pupil had left their phone in a box in the teacher’s cupboard overnight. (Children are currently allowed to take phones to Blackhorse and hand them in when they get there.)When the teacher picked up the phone the following day, and the screen briefly lit up, they saw a notification of 9,000 missed messages from the Year 6 pupil WhatsApp group.In a blog post, Botten said he has spent almost two decades watching a “technological phenomenon unfold slowly”.“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,” he wrote.The teacher cited witnessing a rise in cyberbullying on WhatsApp, primary school-aged children sending inappropriate images to one another, children seeing less of their friends in real life, and kids being “glued to their phones” the moment they are given back at the end of the day.He added there’s also been something much darker unfolding: “A rise in predatory strangers approaching children online in their bedrooms whilst their parents watch Eastenders downstairs.”How did the school react?The topic of kids and smartphones has been a hot one of late, especially since the success of Netflix’s Adolescence and the growing Smartphone Free Childhood movement. Even the actor Hugh Grant has lent his voice to a campaign that hopes to ban smartphones, tablets and laptops in UK classrooms (although not everyone agrees with the stance).After talks from police, focus groups and a survey where 87% of parents of Blackhorse pupils said they would favour a complete ban of phones in the primary school, the final decision was made by a board of governors: as of 1 September 2025, phones are completely banned.While kids are welcome to have them in their own time, they will not be allowed on the playground or in the school building. The idea being that it removes any peer pressure which might exist on the playground before school, “where children would flaunt their smartphone prior to handing it in”.“It made it clear that the school would not tacitly condone smartphone ownership by collecting in children’s phones each morning and then handing them back at the end of the day,” said Botten of the change in rules. The headteacher noted that “since announcing the result, I have had zero emails from parents complaining about the ban, whereas I have had a good many parents thank the school for taking a stand”.While a lot has been said about the negative effects of phone use over the years, one recent study of 11-13 year olds in the US found kids with smartphones reported better mental health than those without – including higher self-esteem and being less likely to feel depressed. Yet a study by Kings College London (KCL) revealed teens with problematic smartphone use (which is a bit like phone addiction) are twice as likely to have anxiety.Previous reports suggested almost all schools in England have banned mobile phone use by pupils during school time – however it’s very much down to schools when it comes to how they implement this. In April, the Guardian reported that most primary schools ask students to give phones to staff at the start of the day or have banned them completely. In secondary schools, the picture is a little different. The survey found 79% allow students to keep their phones on them, but said they couldn’t be used or displayed. A smaller percentage (8%) ask for phones to be handed in, and 3% ban them completely from school grounds. Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), previously said he would “support a statutory ban on mobile phones in schools” to “alleviate pressure on school leaders and teachers but also parents”.He added: “I think there is a much-needed conversation to be had in this country about mobile phone use, online harm and the damaging impact that it has on our young people.”Related...I Work With Teens – Banning Smartphones In Schools Isn't EnoughWhy That Cute AI Trend Isn't Worth Your Child's PrivacyI'm A Headteacher – Hugh Grant’s Criticism Of Schools And Screen Time Doesn’t Add Up

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