{"id":170505,"date":"2026-04-20T03:45:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T03:45:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/170505\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T03:45:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T03:45:11","slug":"hundreds-of-parents-seek-to-ban-elementary-school-from-sending-children-home-with-chromebooks-as-they-demand-a-return-to-pencil-and-paper-learning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/170505\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundreds of parents seek to BAN elementary school from sending children home with Chromebooks as they demand a return to pencil and paper learning"},"content":{"rendered":"

Parents of a Philadelphia school district have rallied together to get pencils back in their children’s hands and writing on paper again after seeing the damage of learning on Chromebooks.<\/p>\n

At least 200 parents of the Lower Merion School District (LMSD) have signed an ongoing petition <\/a>to opt their children out of a one-to-one electronic device program, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The petition claimed several teachers at LMSD support the refusal of technology-based learning after seeing the harms of devices such as Chromebooks, iPads, and MacBooks cause in real time.<\/p>\n

Technology can harm students by distracting them, exposing them to cyberbullying and inappropriate online content and weakening their socialization skills, the complaint noted.<\/p>\n

The petition added that devices can lead to teacher burnout, excessive screen time, privacy concerns, poor behavior in class, and concerns about the role of AI<\/a> in children’s academic lives, among other issues.<\/p>\n

Despite concerns, administrators said that children can’t opt out of having a computer, according to the outlet.<\/p>\n

‘We can’t have a room for 20, 30 kids that want to opt out, and the rest of the school is operating differently,’ Superintendent Frank Ranelli said at a policy committee meeting on Monday.<\/p>\n

‘Public schools are not just an open forum for whatever any kid needs that does not have an IEP,’ said the superintendent, referring to individualized educational programs.<\/p>\n

\"At <\/p>\n

At least 200 parents of the Lower Merion School District (LMSD) have signed an ongoing petition to opt their children out of a one-to-one electronic device program. However, administrators claim that opting their children out of the program is impossible (Penn Wynne Elementary School in LMSD pictured)<\/p>\n

\"Parents <\/p>\n

Parents claim that there are several factors that make using technology dangerous for learning such as\u00a0inappropriate online content and games during the school day<\/p>\n

Administrators are also planning to revise a policy that frustrated parents are asking them to enforce.<\/p>\n

The petition seeks that the district honor Administrative Regulation 137.<\/p>\n

‘Policy 137 makes clear that if a parent or student declines to participate in the 1:1 Electronic Device Initiative by refusing to sign the device agreement, the building principal is responsible for making accommodations so that the student’s education is not adversely affected,’ reads the petition.<\/p>\n

However, Megan Shafer, Lower Merion’s assistant to the superintendent for district administration, told the inquirer that the policy is outdated.<\/p>\n

Shafer said that the rule was implemented 15 years ago when the district first introduced one-to-one devices.<\/p>\n

It was an option for parents who did not want their child to have a computer, but ‘it’s simply not an ability we have any longer, to say there would be an equivalent experience for a child that opts out,’ said assistant to the superintendent.<\/p>\n

She added that the updated policy ‘will need to be adjusted to reflect the current status of how we deliver curriculum and instruction in our classrooms.’<\/p>\n

The petition also requested the school to ‘offer an equal and meaningful lower tech or device reduced educational option for interested students,’ as well as, ‘hold a follow-up community meeting to discuss next steps, including how LMSD can support families seeking to opt out of 1:1 devices.’<\/p>\n

\"Parents <\/p>\n

Parents are asking the enforcement of Administrative Regulation 137. A policy that allows guardians to opt their children out of one-to-one devices but does not hinder the quality of their learning<\/p>\n

\"Administrators <\/p>\n

Administrators claim that the policy is outdated and are working towards revising the policy<\/p>\n

Yair Lev, a parent who started the petition, told the Inquirer that parents won’t let the district say no.<\/p>\n

‘We know the current situation with Chromebooks and sending them home is detrimental to our children,’ Lev said.<\/p>\n

‘By September, we will opt out. It’s not about if they say no. It’s happening.’<\/p>\n

LMSD recently voted to purchase iReady, a math curriculum that includes physical books as well as a digital component.<\/p>\n

The Daily Mail has reached out to the Lower Merion School District for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Parents of a Philadelphia school district have rallied together to get pencils back in their children’s hands and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":170506,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[7269,183,185,184,186,139],"class_list":{"0":"post-170505","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-lower-merion","8":"tag-dailymail","9":"tag-lower-merion","10":"tag-lower-merion-headlines","11":"tag-lower-merion-news","12":"tag-lower-merion-township","13":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=170505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170505\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/170506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=170505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=170505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=170505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}