Smart Devices

Los Angeles Unified School District this week is expected to pass a resolution keeping students off screens until second grade and requiring schools to produce itemized contracts related to classroom technology.

Many states are implementing new laws and policies to curb screen time in classrooms, but some experts say blanket bans and rigid mandates fail to account for unique circumstances in individual classrooms.

Illinois is one of eight states that have yet to pass restrictions on cellphone use in public schools, but that may change with a recently amended bill that has support from Democrats, Republicans and the governor.

A group of child safety organizations faulted Washington state for being too lax on smartphone use at school, as state law merely requires districts to enact policies tailored to their community’s needs by 2030.

At the Consortium for School Networking conference this week, panelists argued that the screen time debate must shift focus from how much time students spend on screens to how that time is being spent.

The endeavor, which will wrap later this spring, attaches sensors to vehicles to measure pollutant levels, providing new data for policymakers and residents. It is intended to help shape emission reduction plans.

North East Independent School District in Texas may soon be monitored by a conservator after a state investigation determined that district leaders did not create a bell-to-bell phone ban in compliance with state law.

The state Department of Education asked for $17.6 million to educate students about the impact smartphones, screens and social media, and it's launching a survey to learn how districts handle technology in the classroom.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee is expected to sign legislation requiring elementary schools to prohibit students from accessing social media during the day and to prioritize teacher-led instruction over electronic materials.

Unlike Indiana’s previous device policy that allowed students to access devices outside of instructional time, the state's new law requires that phones be inaccessible to students throughout the school day.

As Gen Z is the first generation on record to demonstrate lower literacy and numeracy than their parents, isolated use cases for personal devices in class do not justify how central they've become to K-12 education.

In response to growing unease about students’ steady diet of screen time, some Oregon teachers, schools and districts are cutting back on how much class time is spent on school-issued iPads and laptops.

Proposed legislation would build on an existing bill that limits screen time for kids ages 2-5, creating an Elementary Technology Task Force to develop, and annually review, standards for screen-based instruction.

At least 130 education bills were introduced this session, including one to restrict student use of personal electronic devices, and one requiring the state to develop guidance and best practices for AI use.

Many public schools in Kansas already had policies restricting device usage during the school day, but policies that allow for limited screen time during lunch and passing periods will have to be updated.

Amid gamified lessons, video-directed read-alouds and assigned work on tablets for students as young as age four, at least 16 states have introduced legislation in 2026 to reevaluate screen time or vet ed-tech tools.

Given so many conversations in the public sphere about how devices and screen time are affecting developing minds (and adult ones), educators might consider how technology has changed how we live and communicate.

The Lexington-Richland 5 school board is considering changes to how the district expects students to use Chromebooks after hearing concerns from parents about how much their kids are on the devices.