Dear [name of relevant school contact],
[I/we] would like please to request that my child, [insert your child’s name and class], be opted out of the 1:1 device element of Fife Council’s Transforming Learning initiative, which involves an iPad being given to every learner in P6 to S6.
[I/We] have made this decision in light of the fact that there is very little evidence that student-facing educational technology and 1:1 device use results in better learning or academic results. Educational benefits may have been assumed by Fife Council, but no meaningful evidence that these devices will improve learning or produce better attainment outcomes for our children has been presented to parents.
There is, however, plentiful evidence of the many negative impacts of digital device use and reliance on edtech for children’s attention, absorption, emotional self-regulation, eye sight, posture, sleep, and consequently for attainment. Greater use of these devices and greater reliance on technology for carrying out schoolwork and homework also inevitably increases the likelihood of pupils being exposed to inappropriate online content, cyberbullying, grooming, predation, and as parents we can assure you the presence of these devices will have negative impacts on our homelife.
[I/We] absolutely want to nurture and support [my/our] child’s educational, social and emotional development as much as possible and it is for exactly that reason that [I am/we are] concerned by the intrusion of devices and technology into the classroom, and inevitably therefore also our home. [I/We] understand that the school has a legal duty to provide pupils with a state-approved educational content and curriculum, but you also have legal duties to ensure that the methods by which you deliver that education are safe, effective and free from unnecessary health risks. Safety, effectiveness and the absence of health risks has not in any sense been established for children using these devices, and as parents our first duty is to protect our children.
For all of these reasons, [I/we] wish to opt [my/our] child out of the Transforming Learning 1:1 device scheme. Please therefore do not issue a device to my child, and please ensure that learning materials, classwork and homework can continue to be supplied in a form and manner that enables my child to complete their schoolwork and homework without needing to use a digital device (other than when using school devices during computer studies / information technology classes).
Please could you kindly confirm by return that [insert your child’s name] will be opted out of the 1:1 device scheme as requested?
Yours sincerely,
[Your name]