Los Angeles schools are about to look a lot more old-school. The Los Angeles Board of Education on Tuesday unanimously approved a plan to sharply scale back student screen use in classrooms, reversing years of pushing one-to-one devices and digital lessons. Under the policy, students won't use screens at all until second grade; after that, the district will cap and track screen time by grade level and steer teachers toward more pen-and-paper work, per the Los Angeles Times. The move also authorizes blocking or limiting access to YouTube and games like Roblox and Fortnite, and would bar elementary and middle school students from using devices during lunch, recess, and passing periods except for teacher-approved work.
Los Angeles Unified School District board member Nick Melvoin, who authored the resolution, said "a child sitting in front of a screen for hours is not getting better education simply because the content is online." The shift follows organized pressure from parents worried about academic, emotional, and physical harms. The resolution cites American Academy of Pediatrics findings linking excessive screen time to "vision problems, increased anxiety and depression, addictive behavior, reduced attention span, difficulty managing emotions, lower academic achievement, and weaker cognition," per NBC Los Angeles. The move places LAUSD alongside states and districts nationwide experimenting with classroom tech limits. Key pieces of the policy are expected to be in place by fall.
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