Low Tech Rights #6 - The Right To Low Tech

 

The right for parents, and children, to choose a non-discriminatory low-tech statutory schooling that meets five basic low-tech standards.

 

 

A low-tech school is one that meets the following five minimal digital safety standards:

 

1. Time Limits

   • A 1 hour-a-day screen time limit on school devices, (max 2hrs in late secondary) in line with medical guidance

2. Whitelist Filtering

   • Only selected bias-free evidence-based apps and internet resources to be used during school time

3. Paper Homework

   • No obligation for a child to carry out screen-based homework

4. Data Protection

   • Opt-in to all processing or use of a child's data by commercial third-parties

5. No Phones

   • Lockaway ban on personal internet connected devices from home (smartphones, tablets etc)

 

Why do parents and children have a right to this?

 

Under Article 8 of the Human Rights Act, families, including adults and children, have a right to a family life and private life free from imposition by organisations including government, media organisations and device manufacturers.

 

If families choose to observe a low-tech lifestyle as an expression of their culture and identity this must be respected under the provisions of the act.

 

Under the UNCRC in Articles 19, 28, 34 & 36  which are incorporated in Scottish Law, government must ensure that children have safe access to free education, and be protected from all forms of violence, sexual abuse and exploitation by media.

 

Further, in Articles 5, 12 and 13, governments must respect the rights and responsibilities of parents to provide guidance and direction to their child as they grow up, and children must be free to express their opinions, and have those views considered and taken seriously.

 

In contrast to these laws:

 

• Children in Scotland have been compelled to use devices against their will and their parents' expressed consent.
• Parents have been told they have no option to opt their child out from device usage.
• Even where parents or children have opted out of device schemes it has been discovered that their child has been given a device or induced to use apps or devices by other means.
• Where parents have opted out of device usage some children have faced significant exclusion

 

These practices are both offensive to the human rights of parents, harm children, and appear to directly contradict children's rights in law.

 

 

Right

 

Children have a right to a safe, free and inclusive education, free from device harm.