To refuse to sign form for DD to have a school iPad?

[user63214]

Last year DD (8) school introduced iPads which they all brought home to complete homework/ use Apps. On a number of occasions DD dropped it accidentally, forgot where is was or to charge it.
For this year they have just sent out forms saying children will receive their iPads once we have signed the form acceptability liability for any damage/loss etc. AIBU? If school decide they want to use iPads they need to accept some may be damaged. Also unsure what happens if the damage happens on school property.

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It's fine not to sign the form. But you are wrong about the use of tech, which is used for learning across the curriculum. Teachers aren't putting their feet up while kids are using them. They're engaging children who are increasingly aware of a technological world. In a recent lesson, children started by watching a carefully chosen clip to recap their prior knowledge. Then they closed their computers for teacher talk and partner work. They opened them again for a game to solidify the new learning, and then put them away so that they could make group presentations on the topic. Over half of the class had a laptop, provided by school but with a liability agreement signed by parents, which meant that every child had access to a laptop to participate in the online aspects of the lesson fully. You can't teach like that without such devices and it really does engage and enthuse the children as part of a broad curriculum.

As someone with RSI and dry eyes caused by tech devices, watching little kids use tech gives me the shudders.

That is depressing. Those poor children hunched over iPads most of the school day, then probably a good chunk of screen time at home too. There's going to be a huge increase in vision problems in this generation from overuse of screens so young.

This

my 8yr has been on our iPad for the last 2/3yr for school and ttrs - es she’s lexia etc

and know to take care of it etc and not take into kitchen as tile floor etc

You aren’t paying for it. Allow her to progress at school and gain it skills also.

This is common in several local authorities throughout Scotland. Been rolled out from P5 onwards where I am. P5 to S6.

I thought schools were waging a war against screen time so why are they introducing more of these flipping gadgets? My high schooler has to lock her phone in a security pouch every day because screens are supposedly terrible for her development, yet every piece of homework is set through an app on her phone.

I swear someone very high up in the DfE must have shares in these phone pouch companies. If schools really cared about screen time they wouldn't force kids to do their work on them all the time!

And yes I wouldn't be willing to accept liability for an expensive iPad either. Maybe a cheap android tablet but only if it came with a really good case. But if I were a single mum or on low income I'd tell them to sod off entirely and remind them that pen and paper works just as well!

No way. It’d get broken here for sure. There’s a reason I don’t buy premium tech.

My 15 year old has a school Surface Pro. The case is extremely study and heavy. I imagine that will the for the iPad for your daughter. Hopefully it won’t be ridiculously heavy.

I’d hazard a guess that the majority of the time teachers aren’t consulted. Local authority decisions are made at a much higher level.

Sadly that’s not the case at my son’s school, the iPads have totally replaced all learning. We have never seen a single workbook since they introduced them, the children don’t do any writing, even spelling tests are iPad only.
They converted the library to a “brand new state of the art” (actually several years behind the times) technical suite, which comprises of 2 laptops and 2 chairs. Nothing else. There are no books in the school, which means all reading material must be on the iPad.
We refused to sing the form and my son cannot bring the iPad home that he uses during the day; there is no other way to access the homework. We simply cannot get our laptops to sit on the school systems, no matter what we do.
I 100% agree they should know how to use tech, what tech is good for and how to access it, but they don’t do any learning or teaching in the school I am talking about. In fact they’ve just been put into special measure over their lack of handwriting ability, due to the over use of them. So yeah I really think these “schemes” are a rip off and a vile way to ostracise the kids whose parents can’t afford to pay monthly for tech that is already outdated and obsolete.

That's shocking @ToffeePennie
Really sad too.

I don't see why 8 year olds should have expensive equipment to routinely worry about. It might not be out of their capacity but most things probably aren't if you apply enough pressure. Why heap that kind of extra burden on them so young?

Caring for a screen isn't top of my list of this to teach my kid

No books?!!! That is shocking and depressing :(

I agree. My DH had a stroke 4 days ago and one of his doctors explained how hand writing is encouraged because it is so good for the brain.

Has anyone done a cost-benefit analysis of this? The list of negatives is massive: cost; distraction; negative effects on the brain and body; lack of handwriting skills; effect on eyesight; the faff of charging, maintaining and looking after the devices.

What are the huge positives that make all of that worth it?

They are usually restricted so they can only be used for school work which is far safer than having a free reign online they will have school licenced apps which you won't be able to use on a home computer. Tis the modern world

You’re very naive if you believe this. There are a thousand stories of children circumventing school device controls.

Sure is. I remember when my eldest DS said he got Air Drops of random stuff during class time from other pupils. Often graphic stuff.

Pupils can and do find ways around these restrictions!

I wouldn’t sign. Eldest’s school did a scheme with iPads and a monthly low cost repayment plan. We parents were all told they were necessary and would be an integral part of each lesson. Eldest’s school bag was on the floor with the iPad in as it wasn’t needed during that lesson. The kids were instructed to swap seats during the lesson and somehow another child managed put their chair leg and full body weight down in the bag and impaled the iPad. We claimed off insurance that came with it but I was still annoyed

She will need the iPad to do school work. They likely will have all their textbooks on it to read along in class. Homework will be done on it and submitted via it.

I bought my DD her own iPad and paid for the AppleCare insurance so I didn’t have to worry about loss or damage. I also got her iCloud+ so all her work is backed up and it’s easy to restore with a new iPad if the first one gets broken.

Handwriting is an obsolete skill imho. Just like being able to tell time on an analog clock.

My kids academy trust rolled out iPads for all children 2 or 3 years ago. I can barely get either of them to look at them at home!

Aren’t exams handwritten?

I despair. Why are we paying taxes for such mindless destruction.