On Tuesday, April 21, 2026, the school board of the Los Angeles Unified School District voted to restrict classroom use of laptops and tablets, instead encouraging pen-and-paper assignments. As NBC News reported, “The sweeping resolution, which passed 6-0 with one recusal, requires the district to create a screen time policy for each grade and subject, prohibit students in first grade and younger from using devices, clarify the process for parents to opt their child out of using technology at school, and audit its education technology contracts.” This represents a “remarkable change in direction for the nation’s second-largest school district following several years of investment in education technology, or ed tech, which was championed by superintendent Alberto Carvalho.” Cynics may view such educational reforms and pivots simply as one more power or money grab, but the change is real and may portend similar actions by other districts.
Technology in schools continues to be controversial despite the growing evidence of damage caused by the incessant usage and ubiquitous presence of technology. Concerns from parents and educators often focus on objectionable content, which in fact poses a real threat to children. What is often overlooked, however, is the form. As one astute commentator famously said many years ago, “the medium is the message.” People late to the game are now acknowledging what many for decades have warned about the dangers of the medium. The harms of screen time, the smart phone, and social media are incontrovertible, as Jonathan Haidt brilliantly highlighted in his book, The Anxious Generation, which we reviewed in the September 2024 Providence Principles.
Another book parents may find helpful is Clare Morell’s The Tech Exit: A Practical Guide to Freeing Kids and Teens from Smartphones. Her advice is unwavering: parents ought not simply limit social media or cell phones but pursue the elimination of screens altogether. Using ample research to back her argument, she delves into personal stories of parents and students to support her thesis. The personal anecdotes vary in degrees of compelling support but add color to the book.
Specifically, she advocates for no smartphones, social media, tablets, or video games during childhood. She uses the acronym FEAST to suggest five commitments:
F – Find other families to exit with you
E – Explain, Educate, and Exemplify to get buy-in from your kids
A – Adopt alternatives
S – Set up digital accountability and family screen rules
T – Trade screens for real-life responsibilities and pursuits
Parents may find some of her suggestions radical. For example, she writes, “Digital technologies are not like sugar. For the developing brains of children and teens, they are more like fentanyl.” And for busy parents a change to limit technology comes at a cost. “Be forewarned that the main thing you’ll need to replace screens with at first is your time as a parent.”
Morell’s research points to the educational advantage of minimizing technology:
- No noticeable improvement in learning results with heavy investment of computers
- Students with tablets/computers often tend to do worse than those who use them moderately
- MRI results of 8–12-year-olds showed stronger reading circuits in those who spent more time reading paper books than those who spent time on screens
- Reading in print has advantages because it encourages the time-consuming deep reading processes
- Children’s brains process written texts more deeply when they are presented in print rather than on the digital screen
- Handwriting has cognitive benefits that typing on a screen doesn’t (e.g. better recognition of letters)
- Writing by hand improves memorization of words
Even public schools are taking note that their investment in technology may not offer the advantages that classical, Christian education has long supported – that the life of the mind is best cultivated in a community of learning pursuing big ideas and participating in the great conversation.
* Other helpful books offer wisdom for parents, including Andy Crouch’s The Tech-Wise Family and Tony Reinke’s Twelve Ways Your Phone is Changing You.
