HuffPost: parents opt out of screens

HuffPost on May 16 joined a growing run of coverage on parents trying to pull children back from school-issued screens, focusing on families who say laptops and tablets are getting in the way of attention, writing and basic classroom routines. The story landed as school districts and state lawmakers are already weighing new limits on classroom technology, including in Pennsylvania, Los Angeles and Vermont. In Ardmore, Pennsylvania, parents have asked to preserve the right to opt children out of digital devices during the school day, while district officials say that is no longer workable. ### Why are parents trying to opt out now? Lower Merion Township, outside Philadelphia, has become one of the clearest examples of the fight. More than 600 people signed a petition asking the district to preserve parents’ ability to opt children out of using digital devices during the school day, according to reporting by the Associated Press carried by Spotlight PA and WHYY. (huffpost.com) HuffPost’s account centered on parents and children who described screens as a source of dependence rather than efficiency. One parent told the publication, “The screen is killing him,” and HuffPost reported that some students objected to writing tools that auto-suggest words and phrases as they work. Aliyah Pack, a high school senior in Lower Merion, told the AP that learning on a screen makes it hard to focus. (spotlightpa.org) Her mother asked the school to take away her laptop after Aliyah’s grades fell, but was told that was not possible. ### What are schools saying when parents ask for a screen opt-out? Anna Shurak, a Lower Merion school board member, told a May 11 meeting there was no option for the district to remove technology from schools. (huffpost.com) The board was discussing updates to district technology policies, including repeal of a policy that allows opt-outs, according to AP coverage. (spotlightpa.org) The district’s position is that devices are now tied to core schoolwork. AP reported that students use them to play educational games, submit homework, access online materials and write essays, making a broad opt-out difficult to administer at scale. Sara Sullivan, a parent in Lower Merion, drew the line this way at the meeting: teaching students how to use technology is different from using technology to teach everything else. (spotlightpa.org) That distinction has become central in the pushback described by HuffPost and other outlets. ### Is this just one Pennsylvania district, or a wider movement? Los Angeles Unified, the nation’s second-largest school district, voted unanimously on April 21 to develop a policy limiting student screen time districtwide by the 2026-27 school year. (spotlightpa.org) EdSource reported the proposal due in June is expected to include daily and weekly limits by grade, elimination of student device use through first grade, and restrictions on YouTube and non-instructional games. NPR, as cited by Oregon Public Broadcasting on May 1, reported that Alabama, Tennessee, Utah and Virginia had passed legislation since January to reevaluate technology’s role in instruction and assessment, and that more than 10 other states were considering similar restrictions. Vermont lawmakers introduced H.830 on January 29 to give students or parents the right to opt out of electronic device use in school. (edsource.org) The bill status page lists Rep. Angela Arsenault, Rep. Joshua Dobrovich and Rep. Robert Hunter among the sponsors. ### What are children and parents saying the devices are doing in class? HuffPost reported that some of the frustration is not about novelty or convenience but about children feeling nudged by software as they write. (opb.org) A scraped excerpt from the story quotes a second grader named Lillian saying, “I’m a pretty good writer by myself. I don’t need your suggestions, Google!” (legislature.vermont.gov) Subashini Subramanian, a Lower Merion parent, told the AP that the math program DreamBox pushed her second-grade daughter to move quickly through levels to earn points. Other parents at the same meeting said they were not opposed to technology itself, but to its routine use across large parts of the school day. T. Philip Nichols, an associate professor of English education at Baylor University, told NPR that laptops, tablets and interactive whiteboards are not neutral tools and shape how students think and communicate. (article.wn.com) NPR also reported that proposed Vermont legislation cited his work arguing that widespread computer use has not produced higher test scores or student achievement. (spotlightpa.org) ### What happens next? June is the next concrete date in one of the biggest districts confronting the issue. Los Angeles Unified staff are expected to bring a formal screen-time policy to the board for approval that month, with implementation planned for the 2026-27 school year. In Pennsylvania, Lower Merion’s debate remains centered on whether a parent opt-out can survive in a curriculum built around assigned devices. (opb.org) In Vermont, H.830 remains on the legislature’s 2026 bill-status page as a proposal on electronic-device opt-outs. (spotlightpa.org) (edsource.org)