LAUSD to vote on restricting student screen time, after years of encouraging classroom use

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Student classroom screen time would be cut way back under a proposal expected to win approval Tuesday from the Los Angeles Board of Education, a remarkable reversal of years-long initiatives to equip students with computers and internet access — and a move that comes amid growing parental pushback on devices.The resolution asks teachers to “encourage the use of paper and pen assignments” and also contemplates banning student access to YouTube as well as the gaming platforms Roblox and “Fortnite.”Under the board motion, students would be kept away entirely from screens until the second grade, and after that, screen time would be tracked and limited.The proposal, first put forward by board member Nick Melvoin, grows out of research suggesting that heavy regular use of digital devices harms academic, emotional and physical development.Also key to bringing the issue forward has been a group of activist parents.The board resolution states, “While access to and developing skills in technology are critical in a digital world, excessive screen time can be associated with vision problems, increased anxiety and depression, addictive behavior, reduced attention span, difficulty managing emotions, lower academic achievement, and weaker cognition.” California Despite warnings from early childhood experts against too much screen time, schools’ reliance on educational technology for grade levels as low as transitional kindergarten has grown — and frustrated parents.The resolution stretches across four single-spaced pages of the Tuesday meeting agenda — a complex, detailed approach to a vexing issue.If it passes, much of the policy-formation work remains to be done.

The resolution, for instance, directs staff to “provide expected and maximum daily and weekly screen time limits for students delineated by grade level.(e.g., no more than one hour total a day or 5 total hours ...