Screen-time battle in classrooms

Parents are growing increasingly alarmed about schools' reliance on devices for young students

- BY KATE SEQUEIRA

CHRISTINA HOUSE Los Angeles Times KATE BRODY said her son, 7, would ignore his body's signals while using a tablet computer at school.

Frustration is simmering among parents who say their young children are spending too much classroom time online, disrupting their learning and development at a crucial time and clashing with stricter screen restrictions at home.

Grassroots coalitions across California and nationwide are emerging in school districts, including in Los Angeles, San Diego and San Marcos, as parents grow increasingly alarmed that digital activities are replacing hands-on learning and peer interaction with little oversight. Groups want more transparency on technology use, strict limits on screen time and more rigorous vetting of software products.

Julie Edwards grew worried when her daughter began coming home from kindergarten talking about “JiJi,” the penguin who stars in an app on her school-issued iPad. JiJi guides her child through gamified math lessons that have become a favorite part of her day.

“It breaks my heart,” said Edwards, of Tujunga. “My kid comes home and she doesn’t tell me about her teacher, she doesn’t tell me about her classmates. She tells me about JiJi the penguin from her gamified learning app.”

Edwards has been told that her daughter spends 15 to 30 minutes a day with JiJi. But even in small doses, what concerns Edwards is that Jiji is a central character in her child’s school day. Edwards is planning to move her kindergartner out of the Los Angeles Unified School District to attend a charter school that limits screen time next school year. She'll join her fourth-grade sister, whom Edwards moved last year when screens began to affect her learning.