Building on the momentum and success of the cellphone bans that have already been enacted across the country, it’s time for schools to embrace intentional, kid-centered, evidence-based policies around classroom tech. These include:

Eliminate 1:1 district-issued devices in TK through 2nd grade, except for mandated state assessments.

Transition grades 3 through 8 from a 1:1 model to shared classroom device carts or computer labs, limiting device use to when it is deemed curriculum appropriate.

Default to physical books and paper-based assignments, reallocating funds from digital tools to updated analog resources.

Provide educators with dedicated training, planning time, and physical manipulatives to support less screen-dependent classrooms.

Prohibit all student device use during passing periods, lunch, and recess, and ban screen time from being used as a reward, incentive, or behavioral reinforcement.

Implement a formal digital literacy curriculum to teach technology skills, rather than using screens as the primary delivery method for core subjects.

Block student access to YouTube, as well as all gaming, video-streaming, and social media on all district networks and devices.

Require all apps used for instruction or on school-issued devices to be completely ad-free, with no in-app purchases or freemium upgrades.

Disable student access to any generative AI tools, apps, and software until this technology is proven safe, legal, and effective, and age-appropriate guidelines are established.

Form an Expert Educational Technology Committee, free of financial conflicts, to review district tech policies annually.

Require all EdTech products to meet independent standards for efficacy, proving that any educational benefits outweigh potential risks before classroom introduction.

Publish a public audit detailing all funds spent on educational technology over the past five school years.

Require explicit, individual parental consent for each app that collects student data, per FTC guidelines on COPPA.

Ensure transparency in technology use by providing parents with automated, weekly reports detailing their child's screen activity.

Create clear pathways for parents and students to opt out of device-based instruction without penalty or reprisal, providing low-tech alternatives.