Parental pushback on edtech has led to change<\/p>\n
The pushback on technology in the classroom has gained steam around the country. At least 14 states have proposed laws to limit screen time in schools, according to Ballotpedia, with four states \u2014 Alabama, Tennessee, Utah and Iowa \u2014 passing such legislation.\n<\/p>\n
In Los Angeles, the nation\u2019s second-largest school district said it will ban screens until second grade, require daily caps for screen time per grade, ban YouTube and require an audit of all education technology contracts.\n<\/p>\n
In Vermont, proposed legislation would allow not just parents but also teachers to decline to use classroom tech. Democratic State Rep. Angela Arsenault, a bill co-sponsor, said she\u2019s responding to parents\u2019 worries about edtech.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cParents in many districts and states just aren\u2019t being listened to or not being heard when they ask that their students not be forced to use these products,\u201d Arsenault said.\n <\/p>\n
The Lower Merion school district said it\u2019s listening to community concerns and has already made changes, including blocking some problematic websites flagged by parents.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have wonderful teachers who have continuously prioritized human interaction and relationships,\u201d Superintendent Frank Ranelli wrote in a letter to parents. He declined to comment to the AP for this story.\n<\/p>\n
The district said it is looking into possible changes, including stronger cellphone restrictions, not allowing the youngest students to take devices home and installing software to monitor students in class.\n<\/p>\n
However, surveillance software can\u00a0bring its own problems<\/a>\u00a0and poses\u00a0risks to student privacy<\/a>. In 2010, the Lower Merion School District paid $610,000 to settle lawsuits by two students who alleged the district had spied on them via the webcam on their school-issued laptops.\n<\/p>\n Kids want ways to hold themselves accountable<\/p>\n High school student Mia Tatar, 16, raised concerns at the board meeting that there\u2019s been an unintended consequence to the anti-tech backlash. The internet filters on school computers are now so strict, she said she\u2019s been blocked while doing research on appropriate topics for school, like breast cancer.\n<\/p>\n Mia said students need to learn how to responsibly use technology, and adding filters or getting rid of laptops won\u2019t do that.\n<\/p>\n \u201cIt doesn\u2019t teach kids how to hold themselves accountable and how to be responsible for regulating their own screen time once they\u2019re in the world,\u201d Mia said in an interview.\n<\/p>\n Her friend Elliot Campbell, 15, said there should be strict limits on screen use in the youngest grades, but students should get more freedom as they get older.\n<\/p>\n \u201cIf we lose our laptops or if we lose the partial freedom we have on them, it\u2019s not going to prepare us for college,\u201d Elliot told board members at the hearing.\n<\/p>\n Fellow high schooler Joaquin Imaizumi takes a different view. He said it\u2019s \u201ccompletely unfair\u201d to expect children to regulate their usage of devices that even adults find addictive.\n<\/p>\n \u201cThis isn\u2019t about learning to constrain yourself,\u201d he said in an interview. \u201cWe don\u2019t give someone drugs and say, \u2018OK, now learn how to deal with this.\u2019\u201d\n<\/p>\n