London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Sep 01, 2025

UK nursery school calls police on 4yo boy over smartwatch in classroom, deeming it ‘a recording device’

UK nursery school calls police on 4yo boy over smartwatch in classroom, deeming it ‘a recording device’

The head teacher at a nursery school in Essex called the police over a four-year-old boy wearing a smartwatch, confiscating the device over safety concerns because it could take pictures and record video.
When Kim Hall, head of Henham and Ugley Primary and Nursery School, discovered that little Ethan Seaman was wearing a smartwatch in the classroom earlier this month, she told him to remove the gadget and then confiscated it. She then called the police to report a recording device in the classroom, citing the safeguarding policy issued by the local education authority.

“All safeguarding concerns are dealt with following council guidelines, policies and procedures,” she was quoted by local media as saying.

The boy’s parents were outraged, saying the head teacher called the police claiming that the device could record material for paedophiles. They said they were unaware that a smartwatch was not allowed at school and insisted there were no pictures or videos stored on the device, which they said the teacher hadn’t even checked anyway. They went on to describe the teacher’s reaction as complete overkill. “Ethan can barely clean his own teeth, so the idea he can use the camera watch to record images is ludicrous,” the Sun quoted the boy’s mum as saying.

According to the watch manufacturer, the device – a gift from the boy’s grandmother – is designed for kids aged four and older and has two cameras to capture videos and take pictures. The device has no wi-fi or Bluetooth which, the manufacturer says, ensures that the content is secure.

Local police confirmed that the safeguarding concern was reported, but they said it was not a policing matter and therefore no crime was recorded.

The family said they understood that recording devices could be used in a harmful way to procure images of children, but called the insinuation that they were involved in sinister activity “dangerous.” The couple distributed leaflets to other parents outside of the nursery the next day, highlighting the handling of the case by the school and warning them to make sure their children don’t wear similar smartwatches.

Some parents supported the head teacher’s actions, however, saying that a four-year-old shouldn’t be wearing a smartwatch to the nursery and the head teacher was just doing her job. “If the parents have nothing to hide, why would you be worried about the police knowing about it? She should be being praised for doing the right thing”, the Bishop’s Stortford Independent quoted one parent as saying. Another said they felt the boy’s parents going as far as taking the matter to the press was an overreaction and “completely outrageous.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
Ukrainian Nationalist Politician Andriy Parubiy Assassinated in Lviv
Corporate America Cuts Middle Management as Bosses Take On Triple the Workload
Parents Sue OpenAI After Teen’s Death, Alleging ChatGPT Encouraged Suicide
Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over 'Buy' Label on Digital Streaming Content
Federal Reserve Independence Questioned Amid Trump’s Push to Reshape Central Bank
British Politics Faces Tumultuous Autumn After Summer of Rebellions and Rising Farage Momentum
US Appeals Court Rules Against Most Trump-Era Tariffs
UK Sought Broad Access to Apple Users’ Data, Court Filing Reveals
UK Bank Shares Dive Over Potential Tax on Sector
Germany’s Auto Industry Sheds 51,500 Jobs in First Half of 2025 Amid Deepening Crisis
Bruce Willis Relocated Due to Advanced Dementia
French and Korean Nuclear Majors Clash As EU Launches Foreign Subsidy Probe
EU Stands Firm on Digital Rules as Trump Warns of Retaliation
Getting Ready for the 3rd Time in Its History, Germany Approves Voluntary Military Service for Teenagers
Argentine President Javier Milei Evacuated After Stones Thrown During Campaign Event
Denmark Confronts U.S. Diplomat Over Covert Trump-Linked Influence in Greenland
Starmer Should Back Away from ECHR, Says Jack Straw
Trump Demands RICO Charges Against George Soros and Son for Funding Violent Protests
Taylor Swift Announces Engagement to NFL Star Travis Kelce
France May Need IMF Bailout, Warns Finance Minister
Chinese AI Chipmaker Cambricon Posts Record Profit as Beijing Pushes Pivot from Nvidia
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
Ukraine Finally Allows Young Men Aged Eighteen to Twenty-Two to Leave the Country
The Porn Remains, Privacy Disappears: How Britain Broke the Internet in Ten Days
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Welcome to The Definition of Insanity: Germany Edition
Just a reminder, this is Michael Jackson's daughter, Paris.
Spotify’s Strange Move: The Feature Nobody Asked For – Returns
Manhunt in Australia: Armed Anti-Government Suspect Kills Police Officers Sent to Arrest Him
China Launches World’s Most Powerful Neutrino Detector
How Beijing-Linked Networks Shape Elections in New York City
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
2 Australian Police Shot Dead In Encounter In Rural Victoria State
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
UK Government Delays Decision on China’s Proposed London Embassy Amid Concerns Over Redacted Plans
A 150-Year Tradition to Be Abolished? Uproar Over the Popular Central Park Attraction
×