Every morning, my high schooler makes sure his Chromebook is packed for school. My 4th-grader doesn’t bring his home, but he tells me that collecting it and taking it to his desk is among the first things he does Monday morning. Both rely on them for schoolwork all day.
My kids aren’t exceptions to the rule. Their experience is the current norm. Every day, across the United States, kids spend a large percentage of their school day looking at screens, even as our pediatricians and mental health experts tell us they need less screen time.
The second-largest school district in the United States is taking steps to change that.
More Than Half A Million Schoolkids Will Feel The Effects
The numbers are astounding. When the Wall Street Journal examined the situation last year, it found that students spend an average of 98 minutes per school day using their devices.
That may not seem like much until you consider this isn’t evenly distributed across grade levels but peaks at almost 2.5 hours in 6th grade, which is described as “nearly 35% of instructional time,” but represents an even higher percentage of purely academic time when separated out from classes like physical education, art, and music.
Fifty percent of teachers said that their students complete more than half their work on their devices.
Meanwhile, the L.A. school district is massive. This single school district is the second-largest in the United States, according to the Los Angeles Almanac, and accounts for more than 1% of all public school enrollees in the country.
It’s the kind of step that could influence other large districts and be the first domino in a nationwide change.
What Limits Is The L.A. School District Imposing?
The district isn’t entirely eliminating the use of technology.
Way back in the 1980s and ’90s, our schools recognized that we would be using computers in our adult lives and started implementing them in the classroom, teaching us how to type and, eventually, how to use the internet for research papers. They’re still important, and our kids still need to learn to use them.
However, during COVID, devices really took over. Many kids were assigned them to take home for distance learning, and having everything online became really convenient. The L.A.District is trying to back away from that to a degree, the board says.
“Technology can be a powerful tool, but too much screen time has real harmful effects on our students,” said Board Member Kelly Gonez. “This resolution will ensure we are prioritizing important skills and learning experiences for students, while protecting their childhoods and well-being by setting research-based screen time limits. I look forward to continued conversations on artificial intelligence, the utilization of iReady, and other critical issues to ensure that our classrooms are places that uplift our students, preserve human connections, and promote holistic well-being.”
The exact plan is still in the works, but, according to The 74, is proposed to include a one-hour-daily (or 5 hours weekly) max for 3rd-5th-graders; elimination of devices for the youngest students (with exceptions for virtual academy and certain required assessments); and shifting back to the classic computer labs rather than individual devices.
The plan also proposes blocking non-educational games like Roblox (which also pose safety concerns) and sites like YouTube.
Could Other Districts Follow Suit?
What happens next depends not only on the outcome in L.A. but also on how parents, school staff, and communities across the nation feel about that outcome.
If there’s a visible improvement in student learning, behavior, and mental health, that could push more districts to shift back to books and pencil-and-paper learning.
Other interests, such as the tech companies whose devices are being bought in massive numbers by these schools (EdWeek reported that K-12 schools spent $30 billion on tech in 2024), will also want to have some input.
When districts start crunching the numbers, that also may influence parents and taxpayers. In 2016, an analysis by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that substituting a laptop for 5 textbooks was a cost-effective choice. However, the numbers remain complicated, since tech prices aren’t as straightforward as simply buying the device.
Maintenance, charging, storage, and other aspects all have to be factored in, and the decade since that analysis has shown that the cost-effectiveness hasn’t played out in all cases.
In fact, in my own state, one district (Wake County, NC) is considering rolling back its device program to cut costs.
If the budgets and benefits align, then yes, L.A. County’s screen time limits could be the start of a national trend.
