The department is requesting $17.6 million from the S.C. Legislature to combat the overuse of technology by children in the upcoming school year. State officials are also launching a statewide survey to learn how school districts handle technology in the classroom — similar to a step the state took before deciding to restrict access to students’ phones.
A budget request from the department says the money will be used to educate students between the third and eighth grades about “the impact smartphones, screens and social media can have not only on their mental well-being but on their relationships, development and grades,” according to the request.
The Education Department says they will purchase materials for the planned lessons from Families Managing Media Inc., a nonprofit also operating as “ScreenStrong” that works to “prevent and reverse childhood screen addiction,” according to its website. The department compares the project to a previous generation’s efforts to combat smoking habits among young people.
The department asks for enough textbooks and other materials for 123,977 elementary school students and 179,204 middle school students.
In requesting the funding from state lawmakers, state education officials make the case that more responsible use of technology is needed, and that it starts with educating young people in how best to use it.
“Overexposure to technology, especially during non-school hours, disrupts normal brain growth, weakens attention and undermines the social skills children need to thrive,” the department said in laying out the program. “The result is visible in classrooms across South Carolina: chronic absenteeism, poor focus, rising anxiety, and behavioral issues — all symptoms of a deeper disconnection.”
As a part of that effort, later this spring the state Education Department will roll out a survey of South Carolina’s schoolteachers to ask about “their plans for and implementation of instructional technology,” a department spokesperson told The State.
“This survey will help establish a clear, statewide picture of how instructional technology is being used in classrooms, so our guidance is grounded in real practice and informed by our amazing teachers on the front lines,” spokesman Kinard Lisbon said in an email.
Speaking to the Senate Finance Committee about the plans last month, state Superintendent Ellen Weaver said the state needed to understand the time and cost districts are currently committing to classroom devices, including the maintenance and upkeep of devices for so many students.
“We’re going to take that information, look at it, analyze it, and maybe compile it into a focus group with local educators where we can start talking about how we wind this back,” Weaver said. “I am most concerned about our youngest learners,” who she said are showing up for school with underdeveloped social skills and even fine motor skills because of how much of their early life is being spent on screens.
“This is real brain damage that is being done to kids,” the superintendent said.
A similar survey on classroom practices preceded the department’s “Free to Focus” policy, which restricted students’ access to cellphones during the school day and went into effect last year. Weaver told senators that policy has been “a national leader in starting to push back against the damage screens are doing to young minds.”
“Last year’s teacher survey underscored that urgency,” Lisbon said. “When asked about the impact of cellphones in their classrooms, educators across the state responded quickly and passionately, consistently raising concerns about the negative effects of cellphones on student focus, engagement, and learning.”
State officials hope this year’s survey gives them a similarly clear picture of how other devices are being used and potentially impacting students’ learning. The Education Department’s funding request says the latest effort will build on the Free to Focus initiative by “extending our commitment beyond the classroom.”
At last month’s hearing, state Sen. Wes Climer, R-York, said he’s heard from teachers who connect classroom disciplinary issues to the digital impact on students’ cognitive development.
“Probably the Legislature is going to have to take the lead on unwinding the widespread adoption of technology that is durably pernicious to young minds,” Climer said.
The latest move comes as some local districts are looking into how school-issued devices are being used. Parents have expressed concerns about their children’s screen time, and are asking whether restrictions on devices or alternatives to them might not be better for at least some students, district officials say.
While modern technology has a place in education, the state superintendent said the state should ensure that it is always used responsibly and with the best interests of students in mind.
“Thirty years ago, I don’t know that we would have believed that we would almost completely curtail the smoking of cigarettes as a society,” Weaver said. “But the way that we did that was we looked at the science and we educated people.”
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