Screen Time

Get up-to-date on the ed-tech backlash as educators and parents are thinking about how much time students should spend on devices at school
Wed., September 23, 2026, 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. ET
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Vanessa Solis/Education Week + Getty
Artificial Intelligence Headlines Warn of an AI Apocalypse. How Should Schools Respond?
Panic-inducing AI headlines might prompt schools to hit pause and review the tech more carefully.
Alyson Klein, September 22, 2026
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An anti-AI flag is shown during a protest against artificial intelligence in San Francisco on July 11, 2026. Parents who are advocating against the overuse of technology in education say AI bans in schools are a good step to address their concerns, but they also want to see classroom restrictions on screen time and use of platforms such as YouTube.
An anti-AI flag is shown during a protest against artificial intelligence in San Francisco on July 11, 2026. Parents who are advocating against the overuse of technology in education say AI bans in schools are a good step to address their concerns, but they also want to see classroom restrictions on screen time and use of platforms such as YouTube.
Jason Henry/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Artificial Intelligence Banning AI Alone Won't Snuff Out the 'TechLash,' Parent Advocates Say
Parents worry about AI but also data privacy, video use, and screen time in general, advocates say.
Alyson Klein, September 16, 2026
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Mustard unveils their new consumer line of AI smart glasses with built-in privacy guards during 2025 CES Unveiled, on Jan. 5, 2025, in Las Vegas.
Mustard unveils its new consumer line of AI smart glasses with built-in privacy guards during 2025 CES Unveiled, on Jan. 5, 2025, in Las Vegas. Some schools are banning smart glasses as they crack down on students' digital technology use.
Jack Dempsey/AP
Ed-Tech Policy Districts Expand Cellphone Bans to Target AI Smart Glasses. Why It Matters
Smart glasses are particularly challenging to regulate because it’s harder to tell when kids are using them, experts say
Caitlynn Peetz Stephens & Lauraine Langreo, September 14, 2026
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On off button on a tech background.
Getty
Artificial Intelligence AI Is Working Its Way Into Everything. Can School Districts Really Ban It?
It’s very difficult—maybe even impossible—to turn off generative AI for entire school districts.
Alyson Klein, September 9, 2026
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Karin Prien, Federal Minister of Education, Family, Senior Citizens, Women, and Youth; Francesco Avvisati, OECD, co-author of the PISA study; Prof. Dr. Samuel Greiff, Director of the PISA National Center at TUM and Chairman of the Board of the ZIB; and Anna Stolz, President of the Conference of Education Ministers and Bavarian Minister of State for Education and Cultural Affairs, present the PISA study in Berlin, Germany, on Sept. 8, 2026.
The PISA results were released Sept. 8 and showed global declines in three subjects. International education luminaries presented the findings: Karin Prien, the federal minister of education, family, senior citizens, women, and youth; Francesco Avvisati of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and co-author of the PISA report; Prof. Dr. Samuel Greiff, director of the PISA National Center at the Technical University of Munich; and Anna Stolz, president of the conference of education ministers and Bavarian minister of state for education and cultural affairs.
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Yair Lev stands by as a screen displaying an itinerary for a Lower Merion Board of School Directors meeting at the Lower Merion School District Administration Building on May 11, 2026, in Ardmore, Pa.
Yair Lev stands by as a screen displaying a document for a school district board of directors meeting at the Lower Merion school district administration building on May 11, 2026, in Ardmore, Pa. Lev is among a group of parents who have sued the Philadelphia-area school district seeking the ability to opt their children out of the required use of school technology.
Joe Lamberti/AP
Law & Courts These Parents Want to Opt Their Kids Out of Ed Tech. Can They Win in Court?
Parents in a Pennsylvania district say ed tech distracts from more meaningful learning.
Mark Walsh, September 8, 2026
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Students at a high school in Plymouth, Ohio work on how to properly prompt the Gemini AI app on Aug. 28, 2026. A new report of the American Psychological Association warns that student engagement with tech apps should not be conflated with benefits for learning.
Ruddy Roye for Education Week
Classroom Technology Q&A Students’ Tech Engagement Doesn’t Equal Learning, Psychologists Warn
A panel of psychologists shares recommendations for ensuring technology promotes meaningful learning.
Lauraine Langreo, September 4, 2026
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Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani and Schools Chancellor Kamar H. Samuels today announced a moratorium on student-facing generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) use in schools, alongside a new screen time policy, a decision that will impact nearly 600,000 public school students, or two-thirds of the system's total enrollment at The Brooklyn Steam Center in New York City on Sept. 2, 2026.
Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani and Schools Chancellor Kamar H. Samuels announced a moratorium on student-facing generative artificial intelligence use in schools and a new screen-time policy during a press conference at The Brooklyn Steam Center in New York City on Sept. 2, 2026. The moratorium is part of a growing nationwide movement to ban or limit the use of AI and decrease screen time in schools.
Katie Godowski/MediaPunch /IPX via AP
Artificial Intelligence New York, Los Angeles Restrict Student AI Use. Will Other Districts Follow?
The restrictions come amid rising concerns about overreliance on technology in schools.
Alyson Klein, September 2, 2026
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services, shakes hands with the organizers of the event at the Hubert Humphrey Building in Washington on Sept. 1, 2026.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services, shakes hands with the organizers of an event focused on the harms of student screen time at the Hubert Humphrey Building in Washington on Sept. 1, 2026. The symposium is part of HHS’s Live Real Life campaign, a national effort aimed at helping families, schools, and communities reduce harmful screen use and create more opportunities for children to engage in real-world experiences.
Sarah L. Voisin For Education Week
Ed-Tech Policy RFK Jr. Calls for Children to Have 'Less Screen Time and More Real Life'
Speakers at an event hosted by the Department of Health and Human Services discuss the harms of student screen time, and possible solutions.
Jennifer Vilcarino, September 1, 2026
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MEAD, CO - AUGUST 18: Parents watch and and take photos of their kids as they enter the school during their first day of class at the Big Sky PK-8 School in Mead on Aug. 18, 2026.
Parents watch their kids as they enter the school on the first day of class at the Big Sky PK-8 School in Mead, Colo., on Aug. 18, 2026. As schools face growing backlash from parents over their use of educational technology, a school communications professional has some pointers on how schools can communicate with parents about how they're using technology.
Joel Solis/MediaNews Group/Boulder Daily Camera via Getty Images
Classroom Technology Q&A Facing 'Techlash,' How Should Schools Talk to Parents About Tech Use?
A school communications expert explains how schools should approach their messaging around tech.
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Assistant Secretary for the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education Kirsten Baesler speaks during the National Forum on Education Policy in Washington, DC on Wednesday July 8, 2026.
Assistant Secretary of Elementary and Secondary Education Kirsten Baesler speaks during the National Forum on Education Policy in Washington on Wednesday, July 8, 2026. Baesler urged educators to ensure ed tech is delivering results for students, rather than focus single-mindedly on the amount of time students are spending on screens in class.
Demetrius Freeman for Education Week
Classroom Technology It's About Quality Tech Use, Not Screen Time, Trump's Top K-12 Official Argues
Trump administration's top K-12 official urges educators to focus on whether ed tech is effective.
Alyson Klein, August 20, 2026
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Imran, left, confers with his math partner Nataly as the fifth graders solve a problem using base-10 rods at Hawthorne Elementary School, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023 , in Seattle .
Imran, left, confers with his math partner Nataly as the 5th graders solve a problem using base-10 rods at Hawthorne Elementary School in Seattle on Jan. 24, 2023. Some parents in the city, which issues devices to all students, have opted their children out of school-issued technology.
Ken Lambert/Seattle Times via TNS
Classroom Technology These Kids Are Learning Without Tech in a District That Gives Out Devices to All
Some parents in this city opted their children out of school-issued devices.
Claire Bryan, The Seattle Times, August 17, 2026
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