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The nation’s second-largest public school district has voted to significantly scale back technology in the classroom — banning screens for its youngest students and limiting daily screen time for older ones.
LOS ANGELES – The nation's second-largest public school district has voted to significantly scale back technology in the classroom — banning screens for its youngest students and limiting daily screen time for older ones.
Dig deeper:
The Los Angeles Unified School District board approved the new policy this week, part of a growing movement among parents and educators across the country to rethink how much technology belongs in schools.
Under the new rules, students in early education through first grade will no longer have access to school-issued devices.
Students from second grade through high school will face limits on how much time they can spend on screens — both during the school day and for homework.
The policy will roll out in phases.
The youngest students will see the changes take effect in July and August.
By January, the guidelines will apply to all grade levels.
What they’re saying:
"It really is a pretty large departure from where we were before," said Mallika Seshadri, reporter for the nonprofit news site EdSource.org. "About a year ago, they brought on a cell phone ban. But this is a lot broader than that because it does apply to devices that are not cell phones and it also trickles into homework time after school."
Seshadri said the policy shift was driven largely by mounting pressure from parent groups, along with widespread acknowledgment that last year's cell phone ban simply wasn't working.
"Both students and teachers have told me that it's been relatively ineffective," she said. "And just a lot of parents seeing their kids come home — including very young kids — with devices and being concerned about the impacts of that from a really young age."
Big picture view:
There was little overt opposition to the policy, though equity concerns were raised during public comment.
Several community members pointed out that some students rely on district-issued devices as their only means of access to technology.
Advocates also urged the district to account for students with disabilities and English language learners, who may have different technology needs.
Questions about logistics were largely left unaddressed, Seshadri noted — particularly for older students whose homework demands vary widely.
The LAUSD vote appears to be part of a broader national trend. Just this week, San Diego Unified passed a policy to curb screen time and ban YouTube.
Panama Buena Vista Union School District in Kern County followed suit with a similar measure.
"I think we're really expecting it'll continue to gain traction in California and beyond," Seshadri said. "A lot of the time with LAUSD policies, they just sort of start to percolate to other districts in the state and gain momentum."
The Source: Interview with EdSource.org reporter, LAUSD website
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