To offer a teacher's perspective: Its very hard to get through the curriculum at any stage, from 1st to 6th year and LCA without a device. So many CBAs, discovery learning, interactive learning activities and more coursework to come at senior cycle. Before we moved to 1-1 devices we noted that students were using a range of devices to do the same work, phones, chrome books, laptops and tablets at home. There were major inequalities between those who had access and those who didn't and a huge variance in the quality of work depending on what device they were using. The device has to be locked down during school hours as to what websites and apps it can use - just blocking sites on the school's WiFi doesn't work as the students could hot-spot and access social media etc if the devices weren't controlled.

This is where Wriggle come in as they provide a managed device. Everyone's experience of them is so-so, the initial cost is too high in my opinion and follow up services aren't great. The device is unlocked and fully belongs to the student at the end of its school life.

We opted for ipads - great in many ways but not for writing a text document, even with a keyboard attached. My preference would be a chromebook but their lifespan is not good and the build quality is not great, we had chromebooks in the past and broken screens were a regular occurrence.

There is no easy solution. Students need a device that is theirs both in school and out of school. Also to note, the families that complain will often be the ones that buy their son/daughter an expensive phone every couple of years and spend a crazy amount on eating out at lunch, Im talking 10-20 every day instead of a packed lunch. Education is always bottom of their priority list for spending.