A YEAR 6 pupil racked up 9,000 WhatsApps in a single night — prompting their primary school to ban smartphones.
The extreme messaging on the child’s handset stoked online safety fears, leading parents to agree to a ban.
GettyA primary school pupil racked up 9,000 WhatsApps in a single night — prompting their school to ban smartphones (stock picture)[/caption]
The pupil, aged ten or 11, had followed school rules by handing in their phone at the start of the day but forgot to collect it.
When their teacher at Blackhorse Primary School in Bristol retrieved it, they saw the thousands of missed messages.
Executive headteacher Simon Botten said: “The teacher picked up the phone, waking it, only to see a notification of 9,000 missed messages from the Year 6 pupil WhatsApp group overnight.
“Nine thousand messages in a 15-hour overnight period.”
Staff at the school were so shocked by the level of activity they started a consultation process over whether smartphones should be banned.
Supporters pointed to a rise in cyber-bullying, growing phone obsession and predators online.
When police were brought in to give a talk on sexual predators and crooks lurking online, shocked parents swung behind the idea — with nearly nine in ten voting in favour of the ban.
Children will still be allowed to bring in brick phones for texts and calls only.
Mr Botten hopes it will help parents delay buying smartphones and reduce peer pressure in the playground.
He added: “Parents massively overestimate dangers in the real world and massively underestimate dangers in the digital one.”
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