But parents and teachers say even the youngest students are finding ways past any blocks adults try to put on school devices to play games, watch videos and message friends on school-issued devices.<\/p>\n
Interviews with more than 45 parents, educators and experts across the country, as well as recent surveys with parents and educators, describe the many ways elementary students are using devices in class: watching YouTube videos of soccer matches<\/a> or playing games featuring Jeffrey Epstein<\/a> or a \u201ccorpse-like grandmother\u201d<\/a> who chases players with a bloody baseball bat. Third\u00a0 graders have used Google Docs to compile inappropriate memes and images and message each other throughout the school day, and a second grader searched for a sexually explicit term<\/a> and was shown a Wikipedia page \u2014 with pictures.<\/p>\n All of this occurred in districts that had filters, safeguards and systems in place meant to block such content.<\/p>\n Related: Young children have unique needs and providing the right care can be a challenge. Our free <\/strong>early childhood education newsletter<\/strong><\/a> tracks the issues<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Bryn Prusky, a second grader in Pennsylvania\u2019s Lower Merion Township, said her friends \u201cjust drift off into a video game and start doing something else that they\u2019re not supposed to be doing\u201d instead of classwork. It isn\u2019t hard to find the games \u2014 they\u2019re usually \u201cjust there,\u201d she said, already downloaded on the computers.<\/p>\n Some parents and teachers are now asking if the benefits of classroom tech are worth the costs in distraction and energy spent policing its use.<\/p>\n \u201cThe problem is in the way the machine works. As soon as you give me unfettered access to programs and the internet, \u2026 I\u2019m going to go right down that path, and learning goes away,\u201d said Jared Cooney Horvath, a neuroscientist and author of \u201cThe Digital Delusion,\u201d which argues that educational technology harms learning. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter the size of the screen or the fact that the school bought it and stamped \u2018educational\u2019 on it.\u201d<\/p>\n In the New York City borough of Brooklyn, fourth grade teacher Martina Meijer only gives her students Chromebook time during small group reading rotations. But within minutes of sitting down with a computer, some of her students are navigating to video sites. Some wear headphones to listen to audiobooks, which also blocks Meijer from knowing exactly what they\u2019re doing when she\u2019s working with another group.<\/p>\n \u201cI always try to monitor what they\u2019re looking at,\u201d Meijer said, \u201cbut my eyes can\u2019t be everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n Kids have been off task and distracted in school long before Chromebooks or iPads existed. But some parents and experts say devices only make it easier to engage in non-academic, inappropriate and even dangerous content.<\/p>\n This is especially challenging for young children whose brains, self-regulation skills and self-control are still developing.<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s say you hand a child a pen and you\u2019re like, \u2018This pen can write, it can turn into a magic wand, it can turn into a knife, it can fly, it can change colors. But only use it as a pen, OK?\u201d said Deanie Eichenstein, a California-based clinical psychologist who is one of the leaders of the advocacy group Schools Beyond Screens. \u201cIt\u2019s silly.\u201d<\/p>\n John Bellis, the parent of a preschooler and a third grader in Lower Merion Township, said his son got in trouble earlier this year after he successfully guessed a classmate\u2019s password, logged into one of the student\u2019s online accounts and changed the profile picture to a poop emoji.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not like they\u2019re doing crime, but they\u2019re goofing around and they\u2019re not learning,\u201d Bellis said.<\/p>\n Many teachers say devices have added challenges to their classrooms. Fifty-six percent of more than 1,200 educators surveyed by Education Week<\/a> last year reported that off-task behavior on computers is a \u201cmajor source of distraction that cuts into students\u2019 learning time.\u201d Teachers said computers and tablets are more distracting than cellphones, which more than 20 states have banned in schools. And 70 percent of 350<\/a> educators<\/a> surveyed by The New York Times last year said school-issued devices distract from learning and engagement in class.<\/p>\n One North Carolina district found in an audit of student screen use, screen time spent on distraction added up to 31 lost instructional days<\/a> each year, according to The Wall Street Journal.<\/p>\n Teaching in an era of devices has been frustrating, said Meijer. \u201cIt\u2019s reducing the children\u2019s stamina, the children\u2019s attention span and creating this dopamine hit need.\u201d<\/p>\n Related: <\/strong>IPads in kindergarten, YouTube videos at snack time: Parents are pushing back on screens in the early grades\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n In classrooms across the country, it\u2019s largely up to teachers to monitor devices. Many say it\u2019s become all-consuming.<\/p>\n \u201cThe onus is always put on the shoulders of the teachers,\u201d said Molly Esquivel, who teaches sixth grade in California. \u201cYou need to monitor the kids, you better be watching them, you better be surveilling them,\u201d she added. \u201cYou introduced this problem, and the problem is now the teachers\u2019 problem.\u201d<\/p>\n Teachers don\u2019t always have a choice, however: Some are required to prepare their students to take state tests on computers, and other districts are locked into contracts with ed tech vendors that mandate a certain level of use.<\/p>\n Districts vary in the degree they lock down student computers. Some districts, for example, have fully blocked access to sites like YouTube, while others allow it.<\/p>\n Some districts have adopted monitoring programs that allow teachers to see student screens and get notified when a student is off task. Parents say even when it\u2019s available, however, not all teachers use it. In Westchester County, New York, parent Lucy Collins said her oldest child, who is 11, knows which of his teachers use monitoring software and which don\u2019t. Her son regularly tells her how tempted he is to e-mail friends, play games and watch YouTube while at school.<\/p>\n \u201cEven if my kid was more focused, if you look up and see someone else on a laptop on something fun or distracting, that\u2019s a distraction to him as well,\u201d Collins said.<\/p>\n Even the creators of blocking programs are constantly needing to evolve in response to determined children. Brian Larkin, the director of product management for the blocking program GoGuardian, said students are using proxy servers to bypass filters and blocks, and are hiding games inside of school-appropriate websites.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s how bad it\u2019s gotten,\u201d Larkin said. The company recently started using artificial intelligence to proactively block those workarounds for districts and give educators more ways to limit content.<\/p>\n Related: PROOF POINTS: <\/strong>10,000-student study points to kindergartners who may become heavy screen users<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n In recent months, motivated by concerns over device use, wasted time and these effects of screen time, some districts have moved away almost entirely from technology, especially in the earliest grades. Los Angeles Unified was the largest to do so in April, but others have taken similar steps to completely remove or cut back on devices in class, including districts in Michigan<\/a>, Pennsylvania<\/a> and Oklahoma<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sixteen states have introduced legislation focused on evaluating ed tech products and setting limits for students\u2019 screen time<\/a>, including Alabama, which created screen time rules for early childhood classrooms, and Missouri<\/a>, which sought to require districts to set limits for screen time in elementary school. And in May, the U.S. surgeon general issued a warning<\/a> about screen time and encouraged schools to limit screen use to \u201cenable distraction-free teaching.\u201d<\/p>\n But such moves are not universal.<\/p>\n In Lower Merion Township \u2014 despite widespread parent advocacy and a petition signed by more than 600 parents in a district of 8,600 students \u2014 school leaders recently rescinded a policy that allows parents to opt out of the system\u2019s one-to-one device program. \u201cOur curriculum is delivered the way it\u2019s delivered, and part of that curriculum is done with electronic devices,\u201d said Frank Ranelli, the district superintendent, at an April school board policy meeting<\/a>.<\/p>\n (Ranelli later told parents<\/a> the district would review the one-to-one policy in elementary school, strengthen web filters and provide teachers with \u201creal-time control and oversight of student technology use.\u201d One proposal<\/a> under consideration would remove devices in grades K-2)<\/p>\n The district already has a shaky history with technology: More than 10 years ago, the school board was sued for spying on students at home through cameras on district-issued<\/a> laptops.<\/p>\n A spokesperson declined to answer questions about the district\u2019s approach to technology or its decision to revisit its opt-out policy.<\/p>\n To be sure, teachers say there are some benefits of devices in class. Assigning work on laptops and tablets is a way to guarantee kids will be quiet and kept busy while they attend to the needs of other students, especially when classes are large.<\/p>\n Erica Boyce, an elementary special education teacher in New York, said her students were especially excited to use a reading app provided by her district.<\/p>\n \u201cThey really wanted to read, they were enjoying reading,\u201d Boyce said. She said having students take assessments on devices saves her time on grading, allows her to see what she needs to reteach and helps her group students for mini lessons and extra help.<\/p>\n Related: <\/strong>Biting, kicking, wandering the classroom: Teachers say there\u2019s a rise in misbehavior among even the littlest kids<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Michelle Rogers, an elementary reading intervention teacher in California who has taught kindergarten, first and fifth grades, has found devices are helpful with tracking data and giving children work at their level. But she thinks schools need a healthier balance and should bring back computer labs so device use is more intentional. \u201cI have seen when it is not in a structured environment, it\u2019s abused,\u201d said Rogers.<\/p>\n What could help, Rogers added, is more education for teachers. \u201cWe need better training, better guidelines and better knowledge of how to use all the apps in a way that\u2019s going to be beneficial,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Some proponents of devices in schools caution that states and districts shouldn\u2019t move too fast and establish blanket policy changes that completely remove devices from schools.<\/p>\n \u201cI just want to sort of help us all take a deep breath and not throw the baby out with the bathwater,\u201d said Tracy Weeks, who leads education policy and strategy at the education technology company Instructure. \u201cWe want all children to be safe,\u201d she added. \u201cWe want to put them in the best situation to learn,\u201d but that doesn\u2019t necessarily mean \u201carbitrary\u201d time limits or bans on screens, she said. Instead, districts should prioritize ed tech that supports learning and show how they are keeping children safe, she added.<\/p>\n In California, Kelly May-Vollmar, superintendent of Desert Sands Unified School District and the board chair-elect for the Consortium for School Networking, a group for school ed tech leaders, said that more \u201cstructured, intentional\u201d usage of tech in school can help cut down on distractions. \u201cInside the classroom, if there\u2019s a problem, it\u2019s not a screen problem, it\u2019s a design problem,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n If districts are going to keep devices, many parents want changes \u2014 less time on screens, increased protections, clear policies about screen time and a better sense of how their children are using the tools.<\/p>\n Amy Swers, a Maryland parent of three, only found out her son was spending time gaming at his Montgomery County school when she reached out to his teachers for feedback near the end of sixth grade. (The district did not respond to multiple requests for comment).<\/p>\n When Swers asked if she could be notified when her son was distracted in class, the teacher responded that \u201ccontacting parents about gaming would mean we\u2019d be sending emails all day every day.\u201d<\/p>\n Swers was floored. \u201cOur school district, they\u2019ve thrown their hands up and it\u2019s like a hydra, it\u2019s a three-headed monster that they don\u2019t have any control over.\u201d<\/p>\n Contact staff writer <\/em>Jackie Mader<\/em><\/a> at 212-678-3562 or <\/em>mader@hechingerreport.org<\/em><\/a>. <\/em>\n<\/div>\n![\"Screen](\"https:\/\/cdn.kqed.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2026\/07\/EC-screen-distraction-2.jpg\")
![\"People](\"https:\/\/cdn.kqed.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2026\/07\/EC-screen-distraction-3-scaled.jpg\")