Parents revolt as schools replace playtime with screens for young learners

Frustration is simmering among parents who say their young children are spending too much classroom time online, disrupting their learning and development at a critical time and clashing with stricter screen restrictions at home.

Grassroots coalitions across California and nationwide are emerging in school districts, including in Los Angeles, San Diego and San Marcos, as parents grow increasingly alarmed that digital activities are replacing hands-on learning and peer interaction with little oversight. Groups want more transparency on technology use, strict limits on screen time and more rigorous vetting on software products.

Julie Edwards grew worried when her daughter began coming home from kindergarten talking about 'JiJi, ' the penguin who stars in an app on her school-issued iPad. JiJi guides her child through gamified math lessons that have become a favorite part of her day.

'It breaks my heart, ' said Edwards of Tujunga. 'My kid comes home and she doesn't tell me about her teacher, she doesn't tell me about her classmates. She tells me about JiJi the penguin from her gamified learning app. '

Edwards has been told that her daughter spends 15 to 30 minutes a day with JiJi. But even in small doses what concerns Edwards is that Jiji is a central character in her child's school day. Edwards is planning to move her kindergartner out of LAUSD to attend a charter school that limits screen time next school year. She'll join her fourth-grade sister, who Edwards moved last year when screens began to affect her learning.

Gamified lessons on individual devices and video-directed read-alouds and sing-alongs have become more common in elementary school since the pandemic, including in transitional kindergarten and kindergarten. Nearly one third of parents say their children under age 8 have used AI for school-related material, according to Common Sense Media, which surveyed more than 1,500 families. For these young students, early childhood experts say children should focus more on hands-on learning for development.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends families prioritize non-digital activities like play and social interaction for children 5 and under. Though the organization no longer recommends a specific time limit, an hour is a good goal to strive for, said Dr. Tiffany Munzer, the lead author of the organization's latest policy statement on technology use.

Too much screen time can lead to language, cognitive and social-emotional delays as well as challenges with how children manage daily tasks and control impulses, said Munzer, who is also a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Communications and Media Executive Committee.

Human-centered activities are vital for young learners, Munzer said.

'Kids in the preschool and kindergarten years really benefit from hands-on play and tactile learning experiences, ' she said. 'Young children learn best really through these socially mediated experiences and by involving the senses.'

For Kate Brody, whose first-grade son attends a charter school in the San Fernando Valley, the addictive nature of her son's school-assigned iPad led to potty accidents during class. At first she thought the incidents were related to her son's adjustment to his new grade level. But then she discovered they were consistently happening during the classes' iPad time. Too invested, he would ignore his body's signals, she said.

'He's not able to tell he needs to go to the bathroom because he's sitting there with headphones on for an hour playing these games that are sort of addictive, ' said Brody, who handles communication for Schools Beyond Screens, a parent coalition pushing for changes in LAUSD.

An LAUSD spokesperson said elementary school students average between 31 and 50 minutes of screen time, adding that the district works with schools to ensure they are using technology responsibly and effectively. The use of one-to-one devices is left to the discretion of each school.

Some parents aren't planning to wait around for policy changes.

Classroom technology use has been a stressor for India Brookover of Granada Hills, whose daughter will be entering transitional kindergarten, or TK, next year and whose screen time in preschool has been near zero.

Although she wants her child to attend her local elementary school for TK, she is awaiting information about their screen time use. She is also considering a charter school where screens are not used until second grade.

'I just don't understand what kids are learning when you give a 5-year-old an iPad, ' Brookover said. 'I personally feel like it's just gonna make kids expect education to be entertainment and diminish their attention span.'

Kim Packard also saw little benefit to one-to-one devices for her four children. She's been pushing for San Marcos Unified to change its policies and is homeschooling her first grader in the meantime. She will do the same with her youngest when she enters TK in 2027.

'I think we have a wonderful school district, ' Packard said. 'I just think that we have swung too far one direction during COVID.'

Distraction-Free Schools Policy Project, which has led advocacy at the state level, wants to prohibit individual devices in kindergarten through fifth grade and is pushing for a return to handwritten testing.

Individuals from districts across the state have begun attending the California chapter's meetings since it got off the ground in December, according to Jodi Carreon, who co-leads it and runs a parent group tackling the issue in San Marcos Unified.

'We're trying to connect parents across the state. Every day we're getting new members, ' Carreon said.

Some California school districts are reevaluating their technology policies. San Marcos Unified is blocking YouTube on district-issued devices for students in elementary school.

LAUSD recently introduced a resolution that would require the district to develop a screen time policy and weigh prohibiting the use of one-to-one devices for students up to second grade. If passed, the board could implement the new policy as soon as next school year.

'Walking into classrooms, I've even seen kindergartners on iPads. It strikes me at my core, ' said Melvoin, who introduced the LAUSD resolution. 'Kids should be outside, they should be playing, they should be using manipulatives and tactiles.'