Los Angeles becomes the first major American school district to restrict screen time for students – UK Times

The Los Angeles Unified Board of Education has endorsed a resolution to curb student screen time, becoming the first major U.S. school system to take such action.

The resolution, approved in a 6–0 vote on Tuesday, directs the district to create grade-specific screen time policies and bars students in first grade and younger from using devices.

The newly-passed measure also asks instructors to encourage paper-and-pen assignments and considers banning student access to YouTube and gaming platforms such as Fortnite and Roblox, according to The Los Angeles Times.

It comes years after the Covid pandemic radically transformed school education, with most students of all ages now using tablets or computers throughout the day.

“During Covid, student devices became a necessary lifeline, and seemingly overnight, screen time limits were shelved,” Nick Melvoin, a board member, said in a press release. “Our charge now is to recalibrate, evaluate the role of educational technology in the classroom, and balance access to that technology with the kinds of instruction and interaction we know help students thrive.”

“With the rapid rise of technology and the growing research on its impacts, a policy addressing screen time for our youngest learners is long overdue,” Board Member Karla Griego added.

The vote comes after a group of parents founded a group called Schools Beyond Screens, which raised concerns with administrators about challenges their children faced using classroom laptops and iPads, according to NBC News. Families said their children’s grades plummeted as they grew distracted by scrolling social media, watching YouTube and playing video games in class.

“This is an historic reform that we hope will trickle down to the rest of the country very, very quickly,” Anya Meksin, a mother and deputy director of Schools Beyond Screens, told NBC News. “We see this as a big cultural shift into how schools approach technology.”

Recent research also indicates that routine digital device use harms students’ physical and emotional development as well as academic performance.

A study published by researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham showed that adolescents who consistently use digital media at a high rate may face elevated risks to their cognitive wellbeing later in life.

“Technology can be a powerful tool, but too much screen time has real harmful effects on our students,” Board Member Kelly Gonez said. “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.”

Several countries have recently tightened restrictions on phones and computers in schools, or fully banned them, including France and Denmark.

Australia’s world-first national legislation to restrict access to social media accounts for children under 16 years old has been in force for about three months. A recent survey found many parents had noticed several positive behavioral shifts in their children.