Young children in the U.S. suffer from fundamentally unequal access to life-saving 9-1-1 emergency services. While we have spent decades investing in safety infrastructure for the general public, we have failed to adequately invest in the safety of the next generation. Our kids have a right to safety. Our kids have a right to connection.

More kids than ever experience violence in the form of school shootings, abuse, and neglect. While our 9-1-1 emergency services have expanded and adapted dramatically over the years, the access and training kids receive has not. 

A recent study estimates that some 26.6 million children under the age of 12 face severely limited or no access to essential emergency services in the U.S. due to lack of device access or lack of training and equipping:

• 26.6 million U.S. children under the age of 12 face severely limited or no access to emergency services (COSMO Technologies)
• 60% of kids ages 8-11 (average) have no personal smartphone access (Common Sense Media, 2021)
• 91% of kids ages 4-9 are unlikely to be able to successfully notify 9-1-1 services (Huber FJ, et al, Pediatrics, 2021)

Today, more agencies, policymakers, and schools are moving toward actions that would further limit kids’ access to calling devices, due to reasonable concerns over classroom behavior, mental health, addiction, etc. Yet, none of these reasons actually suggest children should not have access to emergency calling services, only that the tools and methods we have today fall far short of protecting children’s basic rights to safety. 

Kids today face a fundamental dilemma: trapped between the wrong type of devices and platforms designed by businesses to manipulate and addict, and backlash policies made by concerned agencies and school boards. The result is that children are left disconnected and vulnerable in our digital age. 

This petition is a call to technology leaders, policy makers, parents, and schools and educators to take fundamental action desperately needed across public and private sectors to ensure that kids have equal access to life-saving services. 

For parents and guardians:

• Begin training children on 9-1-1 emergency awareness & practices as young as 3 years old.
• Provide children with a child-safe, 9-1-1 calling equipped device to provide access and controlled hands-on learning.

For policymakers, schools and educators:

• Move to require modern 9-1-1 emergency calling training curriculum for all primary age children.
• Consider common sense policies that allow for devices, or approved types of child-safe calling devices, in classrooms.

For technology leaders:

• Commit to child-first design and business principles in new technology that place children’s mental and physical welfare and privacy at the forefront.
• End business practices related to devices and platforms that monetize use and manipulate behavior of children.