Concerns about student attention, behavior and learning have prompted parents, educators and lawmakers to urge schools to limit the use of screens in classrooms.
Why it’s important: Bans on cell phone use in schools have expanded into broader efforts to limit screen use and establish guardrails around AI in education.
Big picture: At least 16 states, both red and blue, have introduced bills that would limit technology in the classroom.
Case in point: Schools Beyond Screens was formed by less than a dozen parents in the Los Angeles Unified School District last year, but the nonprofit has grown to include thousands of parents and educators across the country, SBS policy director Kate Brody told Axios.
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SBS worked with the school board of the second-largest school district in the country to pass a resolution to limit screen time in classrooms and eliminate school-issued devices for students in first grade and younger. Similar resolutions have been introduced in New York City and Washington, D.C.
Zoom in: McPherson Middle School Principal Inge Esping told Axios that suspension rates in Kansas schools have decreased by 70% since cell phones were banned in 2022. Conversation among students and with teachers has also increased.
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Suspensions continued to decline as more safety measures were put in place, but Esping said, “We haven’t made as much progress behaviorally and culturally as we would have liked.”
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School discipline data showed behavioral issues with Chromebooks, including gaming during class, so the school moved to storing the devices in carts before securing a grant that would allow students to return them, Esping said.
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The school has no restrictions on the use of Chromebooks. Instead, teachers are encouraged to use devices only to enhance learning, Esping said.
conspiracy: Epsing said students say binders and pencils feel lighter than Chromebooks and help them concentrate.
Zoom out: Although challenges remain, Boddy said he is optimistic that analog learning will be introduced into more classrooms.
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It would be helpful if some teachers could join the shift.
context: The American Federation of Teachers, the second largest teachers’ union in the United States, released a 10-point plan to introduce AI and screen time guardrails into the classroom.
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The plan would limit the use of AI and prohibit screen display for students in kindergarten through second grade “unless there is a compelling reason,” such as supporting students with special needs.
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AFT President Randi Weingarten said in a statement Wednesday that the teachers union wants to strike “the right balance between reaping the benefits of technology while mitigating its harms.”
Screenshot: American Federation of Teachers
Opposite side: A 2025 report from the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), a nonprofit organization for education technology leaders with corporate partners including Amazon, Google, and Microsoft, states that education technology “when used with purpose and balance can support differentiation, accessibility, enrichment, and workforce readiness in K-12 classrooms.”
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Beth Holland of the K-12 education nonprofit Full Scale said in a policy briefing for state leaders posted on CoSN’s YouTube channel last month that educational technology is designed to address “the fundamental relationship between teachers, students, and content.”
Esping agrees. Holland assessed that “not all screen time is the same” and said there is a difference between education technology and Big Tech.
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But she says educators need to be mindful of when technology can have a negative impact and how it can facilitate learning.
Conclusion: “We also need to recognize that technology alone does not enhance learning,” Esping said.
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Teachers remain the “most important” factor in determining what students “will or will not learn,” she added.
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