School districts spent billions on technology during the pandemic, but now some states are limiting in-school screen time because of concerns about its impact on children.
Nationwide schools invested at least $15 billion and possibly as much as $35 billion from federal pandemic relief funds on laptops, learning software and other technology between 2020 and 2024, according to an estimate by the Edunomics Lab, an education think tank.
By last school year, 88 percent of public schools reported in a federal surveythey had given every child a laptop, tablet or similar device.
Now, some states and school districts are walking back their technology use following pressure from parents who claim too much in-school screen time has zapped children’s attention spans and left them worse off academically.
At least a dozen states introduced or adopted policies this year that attempt to regulate screen time in schools — from prescribing limits to allowing families to opt out of virtual instruction.
The scrutiny comes amid a reckoning with the ubiquitous — and potentially dangerous — role of technology in children’s lives.
UNESCO, UNICEF and the International Telecommunication Union issued guidelines this year for digital learning that said online education programs have “introduced important innovations” but can also treat students as “consumers” and expose them to health, safety and privacy risks.
Curriculum Associates, maker of the popular testing and instructional platform i-Ready, is being sued over claims it unlawfully collects and shares student data without proper consent. (The company denies selling student data and said the claims are “legally meritless.”) Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has faced lawsuits that sought abatement for the public, including schools, claiming the company designed its platforms to be addictive for children.
“I think this is a moment when we are all feeling pretty exploited and taken advantage of by tech companies,” said Lila Byock, founder of Schools Beyond Screens, a Los Angeles-based parent group advocating for reduced device usage in schools. Byock is also a plaintiff in the Curriculum Associates suit.
The group’s efforts led to changes in the Los Angeles Unified School District, the second-largest public school system in the country. The school board in April passed a resolution requiring the district to craft screen time limits for older children, eliminate most uses of digital devices for children through first grade and restrict access to YouTube and gaming sites.
Other states are embracing or considering similar limits.
Utah’s state school board will create device usage policies, including rules that prohibit screen time for kindergarten through third-graders for most subjects, following the passage of a law pushed by a parent group. Lawmakers in Iowa passed legislation that caps digital instruction in elementary schools at 60 minutes per day.
In Missouri, a bill would require every school district in that state to come up with a screen time policy is making its way through the state legislature.
“Ed tech is just big tech in a sweater vest,” said Missouri state Rep. Tricia Byrnes (R), who introduced the legislation and blames what she described as the overuse of technology for middling test scores.
For years, Google, Apple and a host of companies that design education software have marketed devices and apps to schools, promising to boost academic performance and increase student engagement.
Children read digital textbooks and download apps to complete assignments and quizzes. Teachers use Google Classroom to communicate with students and assign coursework. And it is now the norm to take standardized tests on screens.
“Technology is a huge tool to be able to more personalize [learning], and it lets students learn at their own pace,” said Tom Livezey, superintendent of Oakridge Public Schools in western Michigan. “Access to learning has never been more equitable.”
Complicating the issue is research that shows students do not see any academic gains when provided with laptops. A meta-analysisof studies on reading comprehension suggests paper-based texts are better than digital-based reading.
Similarly, a study released this week by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that in-school cellphone bans had little effect on academic outcomes.
Some education advocates and worried parents, undeterred, say too much screen time is harmful.
In Los Angeles, Byock said she grew concerned when her middle-schooler started bringing home D’s and F’s. His teachers told her the boy was having trouble staying focused on his school-issued iPad.
“I had no idea that kids were still on devices all day long. I just thought that was a relic of the covid era,” she said. “The problem is that he gets so distracted on his iPad that he was just missing assignments.”
School administrators typically block noneducational websites, such as social media, games or porn, but students can often circumvent the roadblocks. YouTube, which is often allowed in schools because teachers use it for instruction, is a constant source of distraction, Byock said.
A body of research has established that excessive or unstructured screen time can have detrimental effects on children, including harming language development, weakening social skills and triggering anxiety and depression.
But the effects of school-issued devices and in-school usage on children’s development are less understood, said Tiffany Munzer, a developmental behavioral pediatrician and digital media researcher at the University of Michigan.
Some studies report that high-quality digital tools can support students’ learning goals, Munzer said. But “a lot of the apps that are marketed as educational … are not actually educational and contain a lot of commercialized content.”
She has met children who struggle to pay attention in class and in some cases has asked schools to limit device usage for some of her patients. “These one-to-one laptops just unfortunately create a lot of temptation for students,” Munzer said.
The wave of tech restrictions is getting pushback from groups, including the Software & Information Industry Association, which advocates for technology companies. Sara Kloek, the trade group’s vice president of education and youth policy, said beneficial educational tools are being lumped in with consumer technology and social media.
“I think there’s a lot of conflation and concern about the use of technology by children and teens, but instead of talking about how they’re using it, we’re talking about how much they’re using it,” Kloek said. “Instead of brute force legislation that outright bans things, just first understanding how things are worked, what’s effective, what’s not. I think that sort of approach is really helpful.”
In most cases, schools use research-backed digital programs, said Hank Thiele, superintendent of Community High School District 99, a suburban system west of Chicago. He added that exposure to technology sets children up for careers.
“I don’t think there’s any professional workplace out there where they’re paper-pencil only,” Thiele said. “If I remove all screens all the time … that’s not going to prepare our kids.”
He also sees room for reflection now. The pandemic forced districts to adopt technology quickly. In some schools, every student had a laptop seemingly overnight as teachers were introduced to new software. “It’s a chance to audit how things are being used,” Thiele said.
Carol Rouse, a high school teacher in Tennessee, said digital devices have a place in most grades. The state recently passed a law that requires school districts to craft device-usage policies and minimize unnecessary screen time for elementary-school students.
She said she has been heartened by her district’s attempts to block distracting websites. If she suspects her students are veering off task, she uses a monitoring software to project everyone’s screen onto her SMART Board screen.
“We learned the hard way,” she said. “Now we’re getting control of the technology.”
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