SCOTLAND, UK. May 21st, 2026 – Parents from the campaign group Unplug.Scot who are calling for transparency in screen time usage in classrooms and on school issued devices have been told by a Scottish council that they can “home educate” their children if they oppose how it delivers education.
It comes after it was reported in April 2026 that primary school children in Glasgow were able to access sexual and violent content on school issued iPads with a filtering system by CGI, the company responsible for safeguarding school issued iPads used by Scottish Borders Council (SBC).
Campaigners who comprise health professionals; technology professionals including software and AI engineers, as well as teachers and educational staff, say they have raised concerns about high levels of tech use in classrooms, privacy and safety concerns and the impact on children’s wellbeing and development. They argue that whilst Scottish Borders Council has a legal duty to provide pupils with Council-approved educational content and curriculum, the Council also has legal duties to ensure that the methods by which they deliver education is safe, effective and free from unnecessary risks.
In a letter to the MP John Lamont, who raised issues on behalf of the parents, the council responded: “Parents whose views are fundamentally opposed to how the Council delivers education do, however, retain the lawful option to home educate their children, in line with statutory guidance.”
Home education removes a child completely from the school roll, with the legal responsibility and cost of providing an education resting solely with parents. Unplug.Scot campaigners are concerned that this will exacerbate inequalities in rural communities, as children reliant on free school meals will no longer be eligible, and parents will be forced to give up work.
In response, a parent and charity worker from Unplug.Scot said: “Frontline staff are being told to quit their jobs and provide a full-time education if they disagree with the Council’s current digital provision.
“The Council has given us ‘Hobson’s choice’ – either let down the children relying on us to deliver frontline services, or let down our own children.”
Lord Nash, who served as the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Schools at the Department for Education under the Conservatives, recently urged decision makers not to “dismiss” the decisions taken by Sweden, regarded as one of Europe’s most technologically savvy countries. The Tory peer said: “What they recognised is that screen-based learning in primary schools wasn’t producing what it promised and that handwriting, reading physical books and unmediated human contact were being quietly undervalued.
“Going back to basics there wasn’t anti-technology: It was an evidence-based decision… The era of schools adopting technology without really questioning it is ending.”
It comes as John McGhee, the new head of education for Glasgow City Council, said he planned to reassess the use of iPads in Glasgow classrooms.
The head of education for Scotland’s largest local authority says he plans to overhaul the use of iPads in schools as he urged caution over the use of tech in classrooms. Mr McGhee, a former maths and computing teacher of 30 years, who was once responsible for buying in ICT for the city, said that he has already effectively banned iPads in council nurseries.
Alongside Glasgow and Edinburgh city councils, SBC rolled out universal iPad use from P1 (pupils aged 4) upwards.
It comes as the UK government’s national consultation on children’s social media use and digital wellbeing closes on 26 May 2026.
ENDS