How Much Is Too Much?
Reflecting on screen time at school
I recently read the New York Times piece on screens in schools, and it got me thinking about how much screen time our students have at Brookwood.
The article surveyed 350 teachers nationally. Ninety-nine percent of schools now provide devices to students. In middle and high schools, 40% of teachers said students spend three hours or more per day on screens during the school day. Most teachers reported that devices distract from learning, and half said their school's core curriculum required students to work online.
Those numbers made me take stock of our students' day-to-day experiences. How much time are they spending on screens? What are they doing on those screens?
When I asked some of our Upper School teachers how often they use Chromebooks in class, the answers ranged from almost never to about half the time. That variance matters because it suggests teachers are making decisions based on what serves learning, rather than following an expectation that technology must be used.
We work hard to make sure the screen time students do have centers on instructional content. We don't allow phones during the school day. We use filters and monitoring tools. Our Empowered Use Policy for grades 4-8 guides these decisions, framing technology as a tool for problem-solving and creation rather than just consumption. And we adjust when something isn't working - after break, we're resetting our approach to Chromebooks in upper elementary because we've noticed some patterns we want to address.
It's always a moving target. The internet changes. Devices change. Kids change. What works one year might need tweaking the next. The commitment is to stay responsive, to keep asking what serves learning, and to remember that having devices isn't the same as using them well.
David Saunders
Director of Leadership, Changemaking, & Technology
