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(NewsNation) — The conversation surrounding the use of technology in classrooms is heating up around the country, including in one wealthy Philadelphia suburb.
The Lower Merion School District board voted last week to scrap its existing policy following months of debate over its 1:1 device program, which provides students with Chromebooks or iPads, NewsNation local affiliate WPHL reported. While 37 states have banned personal cellphones in schools, parents are now raising concerns about school-issued devices kids can bring home.
Lower Merion parent and cardiologist Yair Lev told NewsNation Monday that he’s troubled by his district’s reliance on technology and believes screens have become a “digital wall that disconnects kids completely from the teachers.” Lev clarified that he and like-minded parents in the district aren’t inherently anti-technology but believe schools shouldn’t rely on it to teach core subjects like math, reading, and science.
Lower Merion new device policy
Lower Merion officials said they are working on a replacement policy that would end the assignment of personal devices to students in kindergarten through second grade, start issuing devices to children in the fifth grade and make it mandatory for them to take home devices starting in seventh grade.
Lev believes policies like this wouldn’t go far enough to address the problem. He said limits on technology should expand beyond elementary school, citing a lack of data showing “there is any superiority” to digital programs over standard teaching.
“The technology, if used in the current way in elementary schools … and even high schools, could be harmful for the kids,” he said.
Discrepancy between Lower Merion district officials and teachers
More than 600 people in the district signed a petition last month asking to preserve parents’ ability to opt their children out of using digital devices during the school day, The Associated Press reported. Officials pushed back, saying it’s not feasible for students to opt out of technology essential to the curriculum.
By repealing the existing policy last week, the board eliminated the “opt-out” clause, leaving the district in temporary limbo and frustrating parents like Lev.
Lev said he’s spoken with over 10 teachers and principals who share his interest in limiting technology use in the district but noted: “There’s a big discrepancy between the leadership in the district and the actual teachers.”
NewsNation’s Tatiana Carter, local affiliate WPHL and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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