For talking to schools
Your advocacy sheet
No two parents want the same thing from a school. Some want phones gone and the laptops kept, some want AI off and everything else on, some want the applications to remain installed but used sparingly or with guardrails. Set the levers to what you want, and get a one-page handout with your requests, the evidence for each, and the script for the person you are talking to.
No sign-up, and no data leaves your browser. The sheet is assembled on your device, and printing it or saving it as a PDF happens there too. Nothing you enter is sent to us or to anyone else.
Phones at school
Personal phones, the ones in pockets and backpacks.
School-issued devices
The one-to-one laptops and tablets handed to each kid, the ones that travel home.
Devices used in class
The shared carts and devices kids pick up for project work, even when nothing goes home.
AI on school accounts
AI agents and chatbots turned on inside school tools.
Who are you talking to first?
This determines the script that will print alongside your sheet.
Your school's name
Optional. It goes on the sheet and nowhere else; nothing you type here leaves your browser.
Everything is set to fine as it is, which leaves nothing to ask for. Change at least one answer to build a sheet.
For you · before you ask for anything
Eleven questions that show whether anyone is at the wheel
You cannot ask for the right change until you know what the school actually does, and many schools have never been asked. These questions are not accusations. A school that answers them easily is running things well, and you have learned to relax. A school that cannot answer them has learned something too.
Who administers the devices our kids use – a staff person, a contractor, or nobody in particular?
Which AI features are currently enabled on student accounts, and did anyone review them before they were turned on?
What sites can a student access in the browser during independent work time? Is there a blocklist, an allowlist, or nothing?
Are shared devices wiped between students, or does the next kid inherit the last one’s history, cookies, and signed-in accounts?
Can students sign in to personal accounts, like email or YouTube, on school devices?
Are cameras and microphones off by default, and what turns them on?
What data do the apps on these devices collect about our kids, and who read the privacy terms before adoption?
Does the school network filter content, and when did anyone last check what students can actually reach through it?
When a new tool or feature gets enabled, do parents hear about it before or after?
Does the school run monitoring software that scans what students type, search, and view? If so, what gets flagged, who sees the flags, and does it keep watching on a device that goes home?
If we asked for one setting to change tomorrow, who has the login to change it?
The last one matters most. Every guardrail this page can ask for is a setting that already exists, and change will be made by whomever holds that login.
The thinking behind every lever is on the asking the school for less page: who actually controls access, why the grantable asks come first, and why three families asking for change beat one who's perceived as complaining.