The headteacher of Brianna Ghey’s school has backed her mother’s calls for greater safeguards on children’s mobile phones.
Emma Mills said ‘urgent regulation’ was needed to protect them from ‘sinister horrors’ online.
Brianna and her killers, dark web-obsessed Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe, were all pupils at Birchwood Community High School, Warrington, Cheshire.
Ms Mills said she agreed with Esther Ghey that mobile phone firms and tech companies needed to back parents’ demands to make the internet a safer place for their children.
‘In the real world and at school we have policies, laws and regulations to protect children,’ she said. ‘Outside of school, however, they are now routinely being exposed to this online world, where some of them are spending the majority of their day, where there is nothing – no laws or systems in place.
‘This needs to change urgently. The digital world, used correctly, opens countless opportunities, and builds knowledge but I don’t think anyone could have ever imagined the sinister horrors that the internet and social media would develop or blow up the way it has. Mis-used, the online world has become a dark place and poses a real threat, especially to vulnerable young people.’
Ms Ghey has launched a petition calling for new legislation to help parents control what their children can access online through smartphones.
In an emotional interview with the BBC, she said she wanted mobile phone companies to be more responsible and only provide under-16s with phones without social media apps.
Ms Ghey also called for all children’s phones to have software that links to their parents’ phones and alerts them if their children are searching for harmful or questionable content online. Brianna, 16, was killed in February last year by Ratcliffe and Jenkinson, who was moved to Birchwood after being excluded from nearby Culcheth High School for giving a younger pupil drugs.
The pair, then 15, plotted Brianna’s murder over vile messages they shared on WhatsApp and SnapChat. Jenkinson, who binged on horror films during the pandemic, had also downloaded a special browser onto her device to watch real-life torture and murder on the dark web.
Ms Ghey, a food technologist, said she carries no hate for her daughter’s killers and has even offered to meet Jenkinson’s mother, saying she understands how hard it is to monitor what teenagers consume online. Yesterday the Prime Minister praised Ms Ghey’s humanity and compassion, which he described as ‘frankly extraordinary’.
But Rishi Sunak stopped short of backing her campaign, saying the Government’s new Online Safety Act was the ‘priority’.
Speaking to broadcasters on a visit to Northern Ireland, Mr Sunak was asked if Ms Ghey’s proposals were practical.
‘My thoughts are with Brianna’s family,’ he said, after what he called the ‘unspeakable, unspeakable, awful act’.
Mr Sunak added: ‘Hopefully, the recent sentencing provides some sense of justice.
‘The other thing to say is actually how Brianna’s mother has responded in the face of this tragedy, with empathy and compassion, I think is quite frankly extraordinary.’
The Prime Minister praised Ms Ghey’s ‘enormous amount of humanity in the face of something that is the worst of humanity’ before adding: ‘As a parent, I am always worried about social media and what my young girls are exposed to. ‘That’s why I’m pleased we have passed the Online Safety Act over the last year and that means the regulator now has tough new powers to control what is exposed to children online.
‘And if the big social media companies do not comply with that, the regulator is able to levy very significant fines on them and the priority now is making sure that Act is up and running.’
But Ms Mills said ‘blocks and filters’ stop pupils from accessing inappropriate content when they are in school and these should be extended for under-16s when they are at home.
‘We have strict guidelines at our school regarding social media and mobile phone use,’ she added. ‘We have blocks and filters to prevent access and also our SENSO system raises alarm bells if certain words or phrases are typed into phones.
‘I am a headteacher and a parent so I know the difficulties on both sides. We must find a solution together and, as Esther said, that is where we need the support of the digital monopolies to help keep our young people safe.
‘I honestly don’t believe there is a teacher or parent in the country who wouldn’t support better regulation of the internet and social media. Brianna’s tragic death is just another example of what needs to change urgently to protect the lives of young people and future generations.’
To support Ms Ghey’s petition go to https://www.change.org/p/change-the-law-to-make-phone-companies-more-responsible-for-children-s-online-welfare
William Turner is a seasoned U.K. correspondent with a deep understanding of domestic affairs. With a passion for British politics and culture, he provides insightful analysis and comprehensive coverage of events within the United Kingdom.
