MESA — Some Valley school districts are looking to limit screen time use in classrooms.
In Arizona’s largest school district, Mesa Public Schools, its board members are looking at a proposal to put a time limit on screen time for different grade levels. The board had its first read of the proposal Thursday night and will eventually go to a vote after potentially tweaking some of the language.
The proposal is as follows:
- Kindergarten through Grade 2: Not to exceed 20 minutes average per day with a maximum 30 minutes in any given day
- Grades 3–6: Not to exceed 45 minutes average per day with a maximum 75 minutes in any given day
- Grades 7–8: Not to exceed 120 minutes average per day with a maximum 150 minutes in any given day
- Grades 9–12: Not to exceed 150 minutes average per day with a maximum 180 minutes in any given day
- “It was more so in response to a lot of community and parent feedback about how tech is used because screen time is talked about, like, every day now,” said Mesa board member Rachel Walden, who proposed the policy while working with district staff to draft language. “That was the motivation, is to make sure that our community understands what our, commitment is to using tech and how we use it, but not because I was concerned was what was happening in the classroom.”
Do you have a concern in your community or a news tip? We want to hear from you!
Connect with us: share@abc15.com
Mesa mom Gina Sparkey told ABC15 she agreed there needs to be some balance with technology use and screen time in classrooms.
“I think that would really help both students and teachers get back to basics with holding a book, writing on paper,” she said.
Superintendent Dr. Matthew Strom says the goal with this proposed policy is to ensure students are using educational technology intentionally and not for recreational use.
“We need to do this now because we need to improve outcomes for kids,” he said. “They have to be able to read, they have to be literate, they have to be numerate and they have to function mathematically.”
Mesa isn’t the only district looking to cut back.
The Alhambra Elementary School District is still using technology, but Superintendent Ceci Maes says students are no longer one-to-one with their tablets. Instead, they’ll use them when they’re needed.
“If we're trying to teach our kids to read, write, it might be better to have a pencil in the hand, a paper in the hand, and books - real books in front of them,” she said.
Research also shows that higher screen time in younger children can be associated with lower academic standards.
However, both Maes and Strom emphasized they’re not getting rid of technology in classrooms, understanding the importance of the need to learn technology. They added that there are state standards they do need to teach with technology, too.
“We don’t think there’s no value for educational technology. There’s value, right? But, let's make sure in the classroom that we’ve got kids interacting with each other, interacting with manipulatives and mathematics that are hands-on manipulatives and get kids interacting with the writing process in an authentic way with pencil and paper,” Strom said.
Want more news in your community? Add ABC15 as a preferred source on Google below:
