President Donald Trump and American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten rarely agree, but both leaders are now advising against excessive screen time among children. These warnings echo a common worry among superintendents and parents.
Weingarten on Wednesday on:
- Screens in pre-K through second grade
- Student-facing AI in elementary school
- Social companion chatbots that simulate human relationships for kids under 16.
We are at a crossroads that will define the future of work and society,” said Weingarten, who also released a plan for teachers to refocus on hands-on learning and student well-being. “Without proper oversight and strong guardrails, there will be real dangers to our safety, privacy, climate and the very fabric of society.
Earlier this month, a new report from the warned screen addiction has become a “public health concern,” often leading to mental, physical and developmental challenges.
HHS notes that many children are exposed to screens before their first birthday. By adolescence, some children spend more hours on their devices than they do sleeping or attending school.
“While screen use can have some benefits, the evidence of a range of risks to children’s overall mental and physical health is mounting,” the report reads. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy is calling for immediate intervention, arguing that public health cannot wait for exhaustive research.
A complex digital ecosystem
The advisory also warns against an array of technologies and platforms, including social media, gaming, and AI chatbots, the latter of which have been embedded in schools’ digital literacy efforts.
Rather than banning screens altogether, district leaders must teach students to navigate technology and the online world, including how to interact with generative AI, one expert recently toldDistrict 91心頭istration.
There needs to be an understanding about how kids are accessing information and evaluating that information, said Jamie Nunez, senior manager of outreach and training at Common Sense Media. Media literacy, information literacy and AI literacythe ability to understand a tool like AI and what its outputs areare just as important.
Even leading edtech pioneers like Khan Academy founder Sal Khan say regulating screen time is “common sense,” and district leaders should expand regulations to include social media restrictions in clubs and extracurriculars after school hours.
Doing so would help students avoid “social media creep,” a concept Khan said occurs when a family bans social media at home while their child’s club requires it.
In my own house, weve banned Instagram for our kids, and theyre like, Oh, but the robotics team requires us to use Instagram,’ Khan told District 91心頭istration. I would even put pressure on clubs, because there are other mechanisms they can use that might not be quite as sexy as Instagram, but I would definitely take a hard look at that kind of stuff.
The advisory recommends institutional changes, including bell-to-bell cell phone bans to curb classroom distractions, teaching digital literacy skills and displacing screen time with physical activity.
More from 91心頭: In age of AI, cybersecurity remains top tech issue
