My son, Albert, begins kindergarten in Watauga County Schools this August. Our public schools here are, by almost any measure, among the best in North Carolina. Yet, my wife and I aren’t excited. Why? Because we know how dependent schools have become on Chromebooks, other devices, and even YouTube for instruction.
Despite the good intentions of many school leaders and teachers, we are concerned by growing evidence that suggests those tools are harmful for our children’s learning and development and undermine our own efforts to promote intentional screen use at home.
What exactly does that evidence suggest? That young children in the early grades should use personal devices with significant caution. That device use is clearly not improving test scores. That apps, like iReady, are “hijacking” classrooms while allegedly collecting and using vast amounts of data without proper parental consent. Yet we’ve personally witnessed screens in kindergarten classrooms in both traditional public and charter schools. Friends with children in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg County Schools have told us about story time for kindergartners delivered via YouTube.
From my earliest days, I was taught to believe in North Carolina’s public schools. Three of my four grandparents were teachers in North Carolina, and both of my grandfathers served as principals in Statesville and Iredell County. My paternal grandmother retired as a teacher at North Iredell High School, and until her final years, spoke proudly about Gov. Terry Sanford’s leadership and his support for teachers. Sixty years later, that still mattered to her.