Author: Denali Sagner

The Lower Merion School District violated the constitutional right of parents to choose what content their children are exposed to online by requiring students to use internet-connected computers without safeguards or controls, seven families with school-aged children say in a federal lawsuit.

The Lower Merion school board in June repealed a technology policy that allowed parents to opt their children out of using district-issued laptops and iPads. In August, the board adopted a new technology policy that doesn’t have an opt-out option, despite continued outcry from parents.

The parents, who are part of a grassroots group called “Pencils over Pixels” that objected to the policy change, say in the suit that their children “encounter pornography, violent images, and violent or disturbing video games through their school devices.”

In addition to the exposure to inappropriate materials, the suit says that by having AI chatbots readily available, the district’s policy can “impede learning” and “encourage cheating.”

While three of the seven families behind the lawsuit have children enrolled in Lower Merion School District schools, three have withdrawn their children from the district because of the policy. Another considered enrolling their children in Lower Merion schools, but decided not to because of the device-use requirement.

The families are being represented by the EdTech Law Center and Anapol Weiss, a Philadelphia-based law firm involved in multiple lawsuits against social media companies.

Lower Merion is aware of the lawsuit, district spokesperson Amy Buckman said in a statement.

“The District denies the allegations and will respond further through the judicial process,” Buckman said.

The lawsuit says “the environment in many classrooms in the District has become like a casino. Students sometimes sit and repeatedly hit keys or the spacebar while playing repetitive online games, creating a classroom environment that is loud, chaotic, and overstimulating.”

The heated public process that resulted in the repeal of the policy was a facade, the suit says, accusing the board of making its decision behind closed doors months before the summer. According to the complaint, Lower Merion superintendent Frank Ranelli “instructed” principals to refuse to accommodate technology opt-outs despite the “plain language” of the now-repealed policy before its repeal.

The fight over technology in Lower Merion has boiled over in recent months, as parents in favor of opting their children out of technology have found themselves increasingly at odds with the school board. Two parents were banned from school board meetings for “disruptive” behavior during meetings on the technology policy, a move legal experts said may infringe on the parents’ constitutional rights.

Andrew Liddell, attorney with the EdTech Law Center, said in an interview that plaintiffs “allege profound violations of parents’ rights and disruptions of family life caused by the district’s policies.”

“Here we have a school board, or at least seven members of the school board and a superintendent, who are determined to press forward with this policy that really does harm kids,” Liddell said.

Under the policy, kindergarten, first, and second graders will no longer receive personal iPads and laptops, and in-class technology time for the youngest grades will be limited to “specific educational purposes.” Third and fourth graders will have “teacher-directed” access to devices within the classroom. Fifth and sixth graders will be issued individual devices, which will stay in the classroom unless parents want their kids to bring them home.

Seventh and eighth grade students will be permitted to take their devices to and from school but will not be penalized for not doing computer-based homework. By high school, students will be assigned individual devices to carry with them throughout the day and take home.

The complaint accuses the seven school board members who voted to repeal the opt-out policy of acting in “contravention of their proper role as public educators and leaders of the District” and “thwarting” the ability of parents to protect their children. It asks a federal judge to issue an injunction that preserves the old policy by accommodating parents who wish to decline or limit their child’s use of internet-connected devices.

“A parent’s right to make decisions regarding their children’s care includes the right to make decisions to safeguard their health, safety, and privacy,” the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit was filed as social media and technology companies are facing a reckoning over the impacts their products have on the well-being of children and youth. Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, agreed this week to pay states up to $17.1 billion as part of a settlement over claims its platforms harmed kids. Pennsylvania is expected to receive more than $500 million from the payout.

Earlier this month, Montgomery County sued Meta, ByteDance, Snap, and Google on behalf of the county’s 148 schools and more than 180,000 minor students, accusing the tech giants of negligence and creating a public nuisance.

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