Handlin, who also has a ninth grader at Harriton High School, said his children made no progress through DreamBox, an online math program Lower Merion uses. Instead, Handlin said, they learned math at a private Kumon center \u2014 with pen and pencil.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur kids don\u2019t learn anything when they go on these programs, and they largely just are frustrated by them,\u201d Handlin said.<\/p>\n
Handlin is among a growing number of parents in Lower Merion<\/a> \u2014 and nationally<\/a> \u2014 who don\u2019t want their schools to issue their kids electronic devices, worried that an overreliance on technology is diminishing their education.<\/p>\n Some parents say their kids can\u2019t focus while having access to the internet, and they\u2019re messaging friends or playing games during class. Others, like Handlin, think kids are spending unnecessary time on programs they see as low-quality, and fear cognitive development is being impacted by excessive time on screens.<\/p>\n More than 200 parents have signed a petition<\/a> asking Lower Merion to allow families to decline to participate in the district\u2019s one-to-one electronic device program, according to the petition\u2019s organizer \u2014 citing district regulations that say building principals must accommodate students who opt out.<\/p>\n Administrators, however, say it\u2019s not possible to opt out of having a computer. They are moving to change the district\u2019s rules providing that option.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can\u2019t have a room for 20, 30 kids that want to opt out, and the rest of the school is operating differently,\u201d Superintendent Frank Ranelli said at a school board policy committee meeting Monday.<\/p>\n \u201cPublic schools are not just an open forum for whatever any kid needs that does not have an IEP,\u201d Ranelli said, referring to individualized educational programs for students with special needs.<\/p>\n Megan Shafer, Lower Merion\u2019s assistant to the superintendent for district administration, said the district\u2019s policy dated to when it first introduced one-to-one devices 15 years ago \u2014 which, Shafer noted, was \u201ca real cause for celebration,\u201d leveling the playing field between families who had the money to buy computers for their kids and those who did not.<\/p>\n If a parent didn\u2019t want their kid to have a computer back then, \u201cthere was an opportunity to say, \u2018Here\u2019s how we did it a day ago,\u2019\u201d Shafer said. But \u201cit\u2019s simply not an ability we have any longer, to say there would be an equivalent experience for a child that opts out.\u201d<\/p>\n Shafer said the district\u2019s language \u201cwill need to be adjusted to reflect the current status of how we deliver curriculum and instruction in our classrooms.\u201d<\/p>\n District spokesperson Amy Buckman declined to comment further on possible policy changes.<\/p>\n Parents are determined to stop Chromebook use<\/p>\n Yair Lev, a parent who started the petition, said parents won\u2019t take no for an answer.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know the current situation with Chromebooks and sending them home is detrimental to our children,\u201d Lev said. \u201cBy September, we will opt out. It\u2019s not about if they say no. It\u2019s happening.\u201d<\/p>\n According to data provided by Lev, the petition signers come from every school in the district. Nearly 40 are from Cynwyd Elementary, where Lev has a second grader and a kindergartener. (He declined to accept an iPad for his kindergartner this year, and said his son has had \u201can amazing experience.\u201d)<\/p>\n Lev has organized fellow second-grade parents at Cynwyd, including Jackie and Brian Mandell, who haven\u2019t been impressed with the educational programs they see their girls using on their Chromebooks. \u201cA lot of the software seems to be very dopamine-driven,\u201d Brian Mandell said.<\/p>\n As the Mandells joined Lev\u2019s efforts, Jackie Mandell decided to reach out to families of her older daughter\u2019s third-grade classmates \u2014 thinking it wouldn\u2019t be fair if only their younger daughter benefited from \u201can enhanced educational experience\u201d without a Chromebook.<\/p>\n About 20 third-grade families have expressed interest in opting out, Jackie Mandell said, and \u201cevery day I get another family reaching out to me about it.\u201d<\/p>\n While the Mandells are concerned about the current use of screens in their daughters\u2019 classes \u2014 Jackie, who performs surgeries as an ophthalmologist, worries they aren\u2019t getting enough practice holding pencils and developing fine motor skills \u2014 they are particularly concerned about middle school, when friends have told them the use of Chromebooks ramps up.<\/p>\n \u201cI see middle school as this looming shadow in the future,\u201d Jackie said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to fix this now.\u201d<\/p>\n
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