A MOBILE phone campaign set up by the head teacher of a Birchwood school will be holding parent and carer events to discuss the dangers of smartphones and social media.

Emma Mills, head teacher of Birchwood Community High School, launched the campaign Disconnect 2 Reconnect to help raise awareness to parents of the risks of unrestricted online and mobile phone access for children.

The project will be working in conjunction with Esther Ghey’s community interest company, Peace and Mind, which is campaigning to see child friendly mobile phones sold across the UK after her child, Brianna, was brutally murdered last year.

Disconnect 2 Reconnect has been focussing on Warrington, and asking families to Pledge to Protect their children and prohibit them from accessing social media before they are 13 and install parental controls until they are 16.

So far, 44 schools have signed up to the campaign, and Emma has been visiting primary schools across Warrington alongside one of the deputy heads, Chris Burrows, to help spread awareness to the project.

Starting on Monday, the focus will shift back to Birchwood Community High School, as the school will be hosting parent and carer events for every year group ahead of the total ban on mobile phones on the premises in September.

Any student that wishes to have their phone on the way to and from school will need to buy a Yondur pouch, which will seal the device inside during school hours so it can not be used.

“Students need to be focussed on the school day, knowing their phone is on their person means their mind can wander to what is happening online and is not in the real world,” said Chris.

“We want our students to be present and to understand that technology does not always have to be readily available.”

The parent and carer talks, which will start at 5pm Monday to Wednesday, and will address the various methods that can be used to protect children from extensive social media use.

“The internet is a huge responsibility,” said Emma.

“It can be overwhelming as an adult; children will make mistakes online as they don’t have the maturity yet to navigate such responsibility.

“We as educators and parents need to hold their hand in this online world and support them in how to access it safely.”

Emma has been working with parental control apps and child safe networks to secure discounted rates for parents across Warrington who Pledge to Protect their child – with 250 families signing up so far.

“I feel strongly that families should be supported with the cost of these parental controls,” she said.

“We all want to keep our children safe, so if we can help by securing discounts that will help Warrington families, then hopefully people will take advantage of this.”

To find out more about the discounts for parental control apps such as Qustodio and Ontaio, you can Pledge to Protect here.