One of the top debates and conundrums around parenting in the last few decades has been screen time, especially as those screens have gotten smaller, more portable, and increasingly personalized.
Now we have decades of research showing that it’s in our kids’ best interest to limit their screen time, and that they learn better when screens aren’t their primary source. At the same time, school systems have shifted to involve far more laptops and tablets, and less paper.
Parents are asking their school districts to rethink this and give our kids less screen time in the classroom.
YouTube, AI Chatbots, Apps, & Email
Let’s be clear: our kids need to know how to use technology. We can reasonably predict that virtually every child today will use computers, tablets, or handheld devices in their future careers, and that most of them will also use the same technology to schedule (and sometimes attend) doctor appointments, college courses, job interviews, and other typical experiences.
They will communicate with their college professors, prospective employers, bosses, coworkers, clients, and their children’s teachers by email or through communication apps; they will use kiosks or apps to order fast food, and they’ll probably use technology for additional applications that we haven’t already implemented, some that we haven’t even dreamed of.
So, yes, of course, they must learn how to look up tutorials online, how to send an email, how to navigate AI programming, and how to find the settings and functions they need in apps and on websites. They need basic troubleshooting skills and some understanding of the hardware they’re relying on.
The question is whether they’re getting any of the above or are just spending hours every day staring at a screen.
Writing, Reading, & Retention
Is this the section that comes across as an “in my day” rant? Maybe so, but most parents today recall having to write a lot in school, often repetitively.
We copied out definitions, correctly rewrote sentences from our Language Arts textbooks, and filled in times tables, all with the understanding that writing cemented the lesson in memory.
It’s not clear that the same benefit is achieved when lessons are typed, and a 2024 meta-analysis published in Trends In Cognitive Sciences found that there’s a similar gap between reading in a book or on paper compared to on a screen.
In short, information obtained from reading on a screen often isn’t internalized as strongly, and may require more intentional effort to build connections and retain information.
Parents Petition Schools To Return To Paper Learning
According to the New York Times, parent groups in several districts across the U.S. have petitioned their children’s schools to limit screen time in the classroom.
They’re not asking schools to stop teaching kids how to use computers and tablets, and exactly what they’re asking for can range from re-implementing paper textbooks to simply limiting the use of computers for non-educational purposes.
“In Evanston, Ill., a parent-run group, Screen Sense Evanston, organized a petition last summer requesting that the district remove noneducational apps from students’ devices and set daily time limits on screen use for each grade. More than 1,000 parents have signed on. Last year, parents successfully pushed the district to limit YouTube access in classrooms.”
One parent reported that her child was using the internet to watch Taylor Swift videos during the school day, and others have complained that their kids are sitting in class watching other people play board games on YouTube, or even watching a video of someone reading a book to students, rather than having their own teacher read to them directly.
It’s Happening In Sweden & Some U.S. Districts Are Listening
Sweden has been leading the way, starting the switch back to paper-and-pencil education a few years ago.
Their plan was to end digital learning for kids under the age of six and place greater emphasis on handwriting, quiet reading, and paper books, in response to a drop in literacy scores, according to The Guardian.
“There’s clear scientific evidence that digital tools impair rather than enhance student learning,” Sweden’s Karolinska Institute, a highly respected medical school focused on research, said in a statement in August [2023] on the country’s national digitalisation strategy in education.
In the U.S., one district considering a similar move is in eastern North Carolina. Wake County School District plans to survey elementary principals this summer to determine whether there’s sufficient support to reduce devices for the youngest elementary students and to stop 3rd- through 5th-graders from taking laptops home, according to WRAL.
They’re considering it a cost-saving move and intend to analyze the annual repair and maintenance costs for the devices.
Some of the changes could take effect in the coming school year, while others would be delayed.
What Should Parents Be Doing Now?
Parents should set their own screen time rules at home, but it’s difficult to enforce them, such as limits on YouTube, when kids are in the school’s care and using the school’s devices.
For now, parents can have an open conversation with teachers and/or administrators about how technology is being used in the classroom and what access students have during free time or after finishing work. Don’t make teachers’ jobs harder; they’re already overworked and underpaid, but do find out what the classroom policies and standards are.
If the answers leave you concerned, speak with school administrators, board members, and other decision-makers about future plans. They may already be considering a change, and may appreciate parental input.
You can also speak with other parents to see whether there’s a consensus that too much screen time in the classroom is having a detrimental effect. If so, your combined voices will have more weight.