Parents in the U.S. are pushing schools to cut kids’ screen time over distractions, online safety and whether digital devices help children learn.
Families and educators in several school districts, such as Los Angeles and the Philadelphia suburbs, are pushing for stricter limits on laptops and tablets in classrooms. Some want schools to return to textbooks, notebooks and handwritten assignments.
The backlash comes after schools expanded digital learning during the pandemic, when technology kept students connected to lessons. Per the National Center for Education Statistics, about 96 per cent of public schools gave students take-home devices in the 2021–2022 school year, compared with about 45 percent in 2020.
Parents Said School Devices Are Affecting Children’s Learning
Some families started to worry when their children’s academic performance or ability to concentrate changed.
Per CNN, Los Angeles parent Lila Byock worried when her son’s grades dropped after he started middle school. His teachers told her it was because he couldn’t stay focused on an iPad all day long.
Byock said her son began doubting himself. “He started to think he was just stupid,” she said.
She went on to help create Schools Beyond Screens, a parent-led organization that she says grew to include thousands of members and about 230 chapters in 40 states.
In Pennsylvania, another group, Pencils Over Pixels, has been pushing the Lower Merion School District to give families more control over their children’s use of classroom technology.
The debate isn’t just about academic performance. Parents and educators also talked about cyberbullying, inappropriate content on the Internet, privacy and students using A.I. to complete assignments instead of learning how to solve problems independently.
School Districts Consider Stricter Screen Time Limits
Some school districts are responding by changing their technology policies.
Lower Merion “set grade-by-grade rules limiting routine device use for younger students and gradually increasing screen time as children progress through school”. Kindergarten through second-grade students are limited to non-routine device use; high schoolers have less than two hours daily.
The changes haven’t settled the dispute. Some parents have sued the district and officials, arguing that mandatory device use without an opt-out violates their right to direct their children’s education. The district denied the allegations and said it would respond through the judicial process.
However, supporters of classroom technology say digital tools can offer educational opportunities and prepare children for a technology-driven world.
Keri Rodrigues, founding president of the National Parents Union, said: “That’s not protection. That’s abandonment.”
Schools are reevaluating their dependence on digital devices, but families and educators still wrestle with how to maximize technology’s benefits while providing focused, age-appropriate learning.
