Dear Robert

We appreciate that you and Karen take the impact of technology on students very seriously. And as you know the government has recently announced plans to ban mobile phones from schools entirely. We believe this presents a timely opportunity to discuss and review KAS’s tech policy.

We are calling for a school wide online parental questionnaire to better understand the current views, and to assess what parents want from the school.

As you know, phones represent only one aspect of technology. On a daily basis, children are exposed to computers, apple watches, gaming devices, social media and other apps. They are all slightly different and new ones are emerging regularly. For parents it is overwhelming and incredibly hard to assess the suitability of each. Because we don’t want our kids to feel excluded or miss out, we often just say yes.

We understand the school may be reluctant to tell parents what to do and no one likes feeling judged. But there are also many who would like clearer guidelines to help them navigate this new and poorly understood phenomena. The range of potential harms are widely accepted and becoming more clearly researched and understood. The recent situation with TikTok & Hamas illustrates a compelling need to do something.

We have compiled a list of questions that cover some of the specific parental concerns. It will not be exhaustive, but we hope it forms a good foundation and we would like them to be included within the survey.

We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Kind regards

Luke Carson

Q. Would you like the school to follow government proposals and ban phone use during school hours entirely?

Q. If other parents were to swap their kids smart phones for a dumb one, would you be interested to do the same (on a voluntary basis)?

Q. Would you like YouTube and other recreational games / websites, to be blocked from all devices used during school hours?

Q. Would you like the school to propose specific (but voluntary) guidelines about social media usage?

Q. Would you like the school to propose specific (but voluntary) guidelines about smart phones usage?

Q. Would you like the school to propose specific (but voluntary) guidelines about computer games usage?

Q. Would you like the school to propose specific (but voluntary) guidelines about messaging usage?

Q. Would you like the school to propose specific (but voluntary) guidelines about tablets usage?

Q. Would you like Apple Watches to be subject to the same rules as phones?

Q. Do you understand how to use the Screen Time app to regulate your child’s iphone usage to include internet / social media / apps?

Q. Would you like help to control your child’s use of technology?

Q. Would you like the school to increase the level of education provided to children in relation to technology?

Q. Would you like the school to provide education to parents in relation to technology?

Q. Would you support an annual tech questionnaire?

Q, Would you like the school to provide more robust (but voluntary) restrictions on technology? Please provide examples, for example parents voluntarily sign a register agreeing to not allow their children smart phones or social media.