Tablets in schools

Shouldn't parents get to decide?

I spoke to an influential member of the smartphone free childhood movement recently. It’s not just phones that are the problem: her child’s school are forcing a laptop on her nine-year-old child. And there seems little she can do about it.

Laptops or tablets have been embedded in schools for ages now. (No, I don’t mean ICT classes. I mean everything.) According to one 2022 study, almost every secondary school student uses a laptop for at least part of the day.  

This is something I hear a lot. Parents being told – in some cases even in primary school – that they must buy a laptop for their children to work on.  If you fancy dipping your toe in the water to feel just how hot it is, here’s a recent Mumsnet thread on the subject. When I asked around, pretty much every parent told me something similar. There is no alternative.

There are lots of reasons why this is pretty strange.