I would love to address this. I have a real problem with screens in schools.
I don't think teachers are being educated, or at least many of them don't seem to be aware of the problem of screens. I understand that they're stressed and overwhelmed, but too many teachers are giving screens to kids to keep them quiet and asking them to do their homework on a screen when the other tabs could be YouTube and their video game. This is happening in the classroom. It is so ridiculous that kids are pretending, and when the teacher comes, they swipe out of it.
If I were a teacher, I would turn all the desks around so that the screens face inside. The teacher's desk should be right in the middle of that U shape so they're seeing the screens all the time, because kids cannot be held responsible. They do not have the brakes installed in their brains. They cannot do their math on one screen and resist YouTube on the other screen. I think we should definitely be getting screens out of classrooms.
I'd like to address the confusion. In The Anxious Generation, Dr. Haidt says we can turn this mental health epidemic around in two years if we follow just four simple norms: no social media before 16, no smart phones before high school, more free play and get phones out of schools.
It's not that hard. We can do it, but we have to do it collectively so that the one family that does it isn't the weird family on the block, like our family is. My child did not have a smart phone until she was 18. It can be done. My son is 14, and he has a flip phone. He's a pretty cool kid, but I'm biased.