The move is a turnaround for an area that, after the pandemic, has focused on bringing technology into the classroom.
States are sprinting to limit screen time
The change in the nation’s second-largest school district is in line with a wave of recent state moves. Since January, Alabama, Tennessee, Utah and Virginia have passed some form of legislation to reassess the role of technology in learning and assessment, and more than 10 other states are considering similar restrictions.
T. Philip Nichols, associate professor of English education at Baylor University, called LAUSD’s move “the swing of the pendulum.”
Nichols, who has been researching the role of technology in public education for years, says all the recent activity is shocking but a welcome surprise. The proliferation of laptops, tablets and interactive whiteboards, he said, “are not just neutral tools. They shape the way we think. They shape the way we communicate.”
Recently proposed legislation in Vermont cited Nichols’ work in Bill which will allow parents to exclude their children from screen time. His research argued that the widespread use of computers did not lead to higher test scores or student achievement.
Vermont’s bill also raises concerns about the privacy of student data.
“These platforms … also collect data about how students engage with them so they can sell products back to schools,” Nichols said. “When you read a textbook, that textbook doesn’t read back to you.”
How much technology is too much?
However, some advocates note decades of research about the potential of computers and technology to streamline learning and provide useful information for students and teachers.
Tracy Weeks, senior director of education policy and strategy at education technology company Instructure, says the rush to broadly ban screen time in schools is premature: “It’s kind of throwing the baby out with the bathwater.”
The instruction creates digital classroom management tools such as Canvas and Mastery, used by about 30% of K-12 students nationwide.
“When we talk about things like screen time,” she says, “(it gets) really difficult because not all minutes are equal depending on what you’re actually doing.”
She argues that doomscrolling and passively watching videos are different from the interactive activities that many teachers use to engage children.
A bipartisan push
LAUSD’s vote to limit screen time gave district administrators a June deadline to craft a formal policy. The directive also aims to introduce the new rules this autumn in classrooms. Parents and teachers won’t know the scope of these rules until sometime this summer.
Projected rollout in Los Angeles is fast but mirrors other proposed legislation. In Utah, a a back-to-basics law to limit screen time takes effect July 1 and gives the state board of education until the end of the calendar year to draft a new policy for schools, but it’s not yet clear when it will be implemented in classrooms.
“We’re trying to help kids build healthier habits with technology,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, said in press conference. “We’re not going to get it right on the first try, but we’re certainly moving in the right direction.”
In Missouri, the state House passed a bill to limit screen time this spring. The proposal, like others making their way through state legislatures, was introduced by a Republican lawmaker. The bill passed with strong bipartisan support in the House and is now on its way to the state Senate.
Kathy Steinhoff is a Democratic representative and former teacher who ended up voting for the Missouri bill. She says she was dubious at first: “When I saw that bill, I was like, ‘Oh, there’s no way I’m going to get behind that.’
The original proposal called for no more than 45 minutes of screen time per day and mandatory cursive writing instruction. Steinhoff says she understands the research behind the proposal, but disagrees with prescribing such strict instructions for teachers.
“Teaching is a bit of an art,” she said. “And when you try to make it more of a checklist … it loses its ability to really, I think, have a meaningful education for our kids.”
Ultimately, though, she said the changes to the law make it less rigid and give school districts more room to set their own policies.
The version that passed the Missouri House is similar to the one LAUSD voted on — school districts must come up with their own policies to limit screen time.
The big difference? The timeline. Steinhoff argued that even the 2027 deadline in Missouri’s current bill is too short a turnaround.
