The Los Angeles Unified School District has banned classroom screen time before second grade and has limited use by older students, under a policy approved by the school board.
The Los Angeles Times reports that grassroots coalitions have been pushing for screen time limits as parents have become alarmed over how digital activities are replacing hands-on learning and peer interaction.
Beginning in August, district guidelines will prohibit in-school screen time from preschool through first grade. It will restrict daily screen time to 20 minutes — including homework assignments — in second and third grade and 30 minutes in fourth and fifth grade beginning in November.
Middle school students will be limited to one hour of screen time spread throughout the week in each class, for a total of six hours weekly. The time will increase to 1.5 hours for high school students and is not to exceed 10 hours a week.
Students will also no longer be given a school computer to take home every day.
The district will monitor the new policy with new software that will enable it to track screen time minutes across its devices.
How teachers use technology in the classroom will also change. Schools will have to limit students’ exposure to advertising and commercial promotion, and technology use will be limited to educational purposes.
Websites such as YouTube, social media and streaming platforms will be blocked for students.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that families prioritize non-digital activities such as play and social interaction for children 5 and under. Experts have linked excessive screen time to language, cognitive and social-emotional delays in young children.
The surgeon general’s office issued screen time restrictions in May that recommended limiting children between ages 1.5 and 6 years old to one hour of screen time a day and children between 6 and 18 to two hours of screen time a day.
