SMMUSD parents push back on classroom video viewing
A first-grade parent told the school board her kids are watching movies instead of PE and recess, as the district weighs a new screen-time policy.
By Hans Laetz
Parents in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District descended on the school board meeting Thursday to complain about too much video in the classroom — not kids bringing their own pocket games or phones to school, but videos being shown during class time on school-issued tablets or on big monitors.
One parent, Sylvia Ewald, has a first grader at a school in Santa Monica. She said the evidence shows young kids learn best through personal interactions with teachers, students and staff, and through hands-on activities, and that screens can increase behavioral issues and decrease attention span and learning.
She said her kids are coming home talking about watching movies instead of doing recess and watching videos instead of doing PE — specifically Angry Birds 2, a sequel to a movie about a phone game.
The school board is grappling with a new policy limiting overall screen time for students, covering both personal devices and video monitors and tablets used in class.
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