Over the last two months, nearly 1,000 parents, guardians and caregivers in Evanston/Skokie School District 65 have signed an online petition, urging the district to reduce classroom technology use.
The petition was organized by Screen Sense Evanston, a parent-led advocacy group. D65 parent Miriam Kendall, the group’s leader, said she is particularly concerned about the lack of safety measures on school-issued devices.
“There have been documented cases of horrible incidents where children were exposed to very age-inappropriate content on school issued devices at school,” she said. “I don’t believe that the safety measures in place today are necessarily going to be able to combat that for every single kid.”
The petition’s demands include banning iPad use during free time and indoor recess, capping daily screen time at 15 minutes for students in kindergarten through second grade, removing non-educational applications on district-issued devices and requiring parental opt-in for students to bring tablets home each day.
The petition comes as a record number of states and school districts have banned personal cellphones in public schools amid growing concerns about technology’s impact on students’ social and emotional well-being.
At a school board meeting last month, District 65 announced an “away for the day” plan in which middle school students are permitted to carry personal devices with them as long as they are completely turned off and not seen on school grounds.
In a statement to The Daily, Hannah Dillow, District 65 communications manager, said administrators have also restricted open access to YouTube on district-issued devices. She explained the district believes these procedures will help “reduce distractions and promote more focused learning.”
But District 65 parent Rachel Waldinger said she still worries about how in-class technology could affect key skill development.
“Especially at the elementary and middle school levels when kids are really developing their fine motor skills, their critical thinking skills, their skills about how to interact,” Waldinger said. “I think it is so harmful to have an emphasis on screen-based curriculum.”
Specifically, Waldinger criticized the “gamified” nature of District 65’s iPad math lessons. She said the district relies too heavily on technology at the expense of hands-on learning.
The petition was meant to push the school board toward action while “taking the temperature” of the community, she said.
“When we have individually gone to speak to the school board, I think it is easier for them to dismiss maybe one person or two people,” Waldinger said. “But I think that we’ve shown that it’s not just one or two people — there’s almost 1,000 people who have signed on.”
Marianne Miller, a District 65 parent, said Screen Sense Evanston’s formation followed discussions about Jonathan Haidt’s 2024 book “The Anxious Generation.”
She added the experiences of many parents have confirmed the book’s argument about the negative effects of technology use.
“It’s necessary for parents to come together to talk about these things and to advocate for what’s best for our kids,” Miller said. “It does take informed community activism to get these things done.”
To safeguard students’ mental health, each school has employees dedicated to creating positive learning environments and all students receive social emotional learning to “foster a spirit of teamwork and collaboration,” the district’s statement read.
“We also recognize that digital literacy is a vital skill in today’s society. In our classrooms technology is often used as a tool for students to create, collaborate, and think critically with their peers,” the statement read. “Our staff play a tremendous role in shaping our students’ experience with technology.”
Miller explained although she is generally “satisfied” with the steps District 65 has taken, more work needs to be done to promote responsible technology use in schools.
“I witnessed this myself with my own child — instead of kids going to play on the playground on a nice day after school, they’d sit in a circle on their iPads and go straight to YouTube,” Miller said. “This was never discouraged by teachers, and it seemed as if they were encouraged to go on their screens.”
Email: [email protected],
X: @jdowb2005
Email: [email protected]
X: mayaheyman
Related Stories:
— D65 to roll out new device policy, remove race from consolidation considerations
— D65 board discusses accountability report, deficit reduction scenarios
— D65 board discusses student technology use, transportation
