In a brief moment of lucidity, Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), recently acknowledged that limits are desperately needed on how much time students are spending on screens in schools. The issue is quickly becoming one of the few areas of bipartisan consensus in education.
It goes without saying that there is no love lost between Weingarten and many parents who strongly opposed her efforts to shutter schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. She specifically called proposals to return to in-person education in fall 2020 “reckless,” “callous,” and “cruel.”
Weingarten, whose union represents 1.8 million teachers and other school employees, also has plenty of detractors among conservatives – and parents who don’t want their kids’ schools to become left-wing indoctrination camps. Under Weingarten’s leadership, the AFT actively promotes LGBTQ+ ideology and has pushed transgenderism in schools.
But on the issue of screens and schools, Weingarten and her critics may be able to find common cause. During a National Press Club speech in late May, Weingarten “called for limits on technology in schools… including blocking most students from using computers in class until they reach third grade,” NBC News reported.
“Students need their teachers — real human beings, not robots and not chatbots,” she said, while bemoaning that students “are drowning in tech.”
Weingarten also said that while there does not need to be a “Chromebook bonfire” there must be “balance… to harness the benefits of technology while mitigating the harms.”
The comments from Weingarten show that even teachers still can learn, since her union played a crucial role in the growth of technology in schools. In fact, as recently as this past January, the AFT “endorsed a letter organized by groups representing administrators, librarians and school technology staff members that said pulling back on educational technology would be foolish,” according to NBC.
But regardless of these mixed messages, Weingarten’s criticism is likely to resonate with parents and teachers who see the flood of tablets, Google Chromebooks, and phones in the schools as a net negative.
The data on the use of screens in schools is astonishing and should cause concern for parents who remember reading actual books and taking notes with pencil and paper.
A 2025 survey by the New York Times found that “81 percent [of teachers] said students at their school receive devices for use in class by kindergarten.” The outlet also found that “ninety-nine percent of teachers said their school provided devices to students for use in class.”
Even if that number is skewed because teachers would be more likely to take a survey on tech use if they were already seeing its effects, other surveys back up the findings.
“In a separate Times questionnaire, sent to the 20 largest U.S. school districts, nearly all said they provide devices to students starting in kindergarten or earlier,” the newspaper reported.
The widespread use of technology stems from a strategy called 1:1, which means putting a device in every student’s hand.
This differs from how many schools likely treated technology just a decade or two ago, when students may have had access to computers in the library or study hall to work on a paper, but not in every classroom. Computers then were treated as a tool used for completing specific assignments, such as writing a research paper about Shakespeare, not as the focal point of the day.
Still, supporters argue that Chromebooks and tablets, referred to as “EdTech” in this context, can improve learning outcomes. A student can, for instance, do math practice during a class at their own pace and level. The tablet, instead of the teacher, can give individualized feedback and help.
That argument is certainly appealing – after all, even a teacher with an aide cannot assist 30 individual students during a 45-minute class.
But the reality is that many students are not using the tech as intended, and it has instead become a crutch that actually inhibits learning.
“I see students routinely have small windows of YouTube up while simultaneously having an assignment to work on,” one high school math teacher told the Times.
The time spent on screens during the day must also be looked at through the growth in screen time after the school day.
“I cannot in good faith allow students to stare at screens for hours at school when I know that when they go home, the majority of students spend the majority of time watching screens,” one teacher told the Times. Teens are spending an average of eight hours a day on screens, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
It is no wonder, then, that the surgeon general recently released an advisory warning about excessive screen time. As reported by AMAC Newsline, the advisory warned about cyberbullying, sleep problems, and social media addiction: “This excessive screen time has been associated with poorer language outcomes, mental health and behavioral concerns – particularly related to social media use.”
But the good news is, the tide may be turning. Both blue states, like New York and Illinois, and red states, like Indiana and Florida, are instituting bans on cell phone usage during the day (bell to bell, no cell). At least five states are considering legislation to prohibit device time for some students, with one model ending screen time in the classroom until junior high.
Technology plays an important role in our lives, and the growth of artificial intelligence means that students do need to have an understanding of how to use technology responsibly. But at the same time, knowing how to read and write and engage with physical materials is also an invaluable skill needed to grow into an informed and responsible citizen.
Randi Weingarten is right to say that students “are drowning in tech.” Now, it is time for policymakers and school officials to act.
Matt Lamb is an AMAC Newsline contributor and associate editor for The College Fix. He previously worked for Students for Life of America, Students for Life Action, and Turning Point USA. He previously interned for Open the Books. His writing has also appeared in the Washington Examiner, The Federalist, LifeSiteNews, Human Life Review, Headline USA, and other outlets. The opinions expressed are his own. Follow him @mattlamb22 on X.
