LAUSD bans screen time before the second grade, among the strictest policies in the nation

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LAUSD will ban classroom screen time before second grade and has enacted limited use for older students, under a pioneering policy approved Tuesday by the school board that reflects growing backlash from parents and educators concerned about an over-reliance on computers and technology in K-12 learning.Grassroots coalitions have have pushed for limits in California and nationwide as parents have become alarmed over how digital activities are replacing hands-on learning and peer interaction.Beginning in August, LAUSD guidelines will prohibit in-school screen time in preschool through first grade.

It will restrict daily screen time to one hour in second through fifth grade beginning in November — including homework assignments.Middle school students will be limited to one hour of screen time spread throughout the week in each class, for a total of six hours weekly to account for a variety of class schedules.

The time will increase to 1.5 hours for high school students, not to exceed 10 hours a week.And students will no longer be given a school computer to take home every day.“It’s an incredibly robust and groundbreaking document,” said Nick Melvoin, who introduced the initial resolution in March.“It’s going to be the basis for reform throughout the country if not the world.”The district will monitor the new policy with new software that will allow it to track screen time minutes across its devices.

LAUSD’s action in April to devise new limits spurred interest in the issue across the nation, said Jodi Carreon, who co-runs the California chapter of the Distraction-Free Schools Policy Project, a leader in the movement.Signatures on education technology petitions nationwide skyrocketed 11-fold following LAUSD’s decision, according to data from the petition company Four Norms.

California Years of investment and effort resulted in school computers for every pupil.In ...