Seventh-grader Maxwell Adams of Hazel Wolf K–8, a public school in Seattle, attends school without his own laptop or cell phone. When an assignment requires a color or digital presentation, he uses a classmate’s screen or chooses a paper alternative, such as making a poster. During recess and lunch, Maxwell prefers sports while other students work on computers. His parents have also opted him out of computer-based state testing, accepting that some assignments may go unfinished.
Hazel Wolf K–8 is a typical district school serving children from kindergarten through eighth grade, but it is known for taking a more cautious approach to continuous screen use. The administration agreed to provide Maxwell’s family with an individualized learning arrangement. Such exceptions are generally considered on a case-by-case basis—for medical reasons, special educational needs or an individualized plan agreed upon with the family. The exact frequency of these decisions has not been publicly disclosed.
Maxwell’s parents believe that the ability to concentrate, personal privacy and protection from harmful content are more important than constant access to digital tools. They worry about unsupervised internet use, gaming addiction and declining attention spans. Their choice reflects nationwide debates over how to prepare children for a digital future without sacrificing critical thinking, social skills and interest in the real world. Research has linked excessive screen time to anxiety, depression, delays in social-emotional development and reduced concentration, although the effects of school technology specifically have not yet been fully studied.
Seattle Public Schools provides laptops or tablets to nearly all of its 50,000 students because digital tools are used for teaching, homework, testing and digital-literacy instruction. The programs cost about $21 million annually, and schools use more than 50 educational technology products. Kindergarten students receive iPads, although younger children generally use them less than older students. The district says screen-free lessons are possible, but a complete rejection of technology does not comply with its policies.
The use of digital platforms is accompanied by data-protection requirements. The district signs privacy and security agreements with vendors, limits data processing to educational purposes and requires compliance with the federal FERPA and COPPA laws, as well as Washington state’s student-privacy law. Platforms generally receive only the information necessary to operate and are not supposed to use it for advertising or sell it to third parties. However, the actual amount of data collected depends on the terms of each contract, service settings and district oversight. Public information does not always make it possible to determine precisely what student information is processed by, among others, Amplify and GoGuardian.
Superintendent Ben Shuldiner acknowledges that children spend too much time in front of screens and is developing recommendations for structuring the school day. The district is also considering setting a daily limit on device use. According to Shuldiner, technology should be used only for a clear educational purpose, rather than becoming a substitute for meaningful work during open learning periods.
In Washington state, regulation of cellphones and school devices has developed more slowly than in other states. For a long time, there was no single mandatory rule, leaving many decisions to districts, schools and school boards. This decentralization has led to differences among schools and slowed the adoption of common standards. A district may establish an overarching policy—for example, requiring phones to be turned off or put away during class—while individual schools may provide further details and grant justified exceptions, as long as they do not conflict with district policies or state law. The governor and the state’s education chief are urging lawmakers to ban cellphones in schools throughout the entire school day.
Maxwell’s mother, Laura Karshny, first homeschooled her son in second grade, when he was assigned too much computer work during the pandemic. She later enrolled him in a Catholic school, but Chromebooks appeared there as well. Eventually, Maxwell enrolled at Hazel Wolf after the administration agreed to make an exception, taking the family’s concerns about data collection by commercial technology companies into account. Karshny wanted her son to interact with children from his neighborhood, but for a long time she could not find suitable options.
Some teachers also question the value of constant device use. Science teacher Emily Mosko says that online tests in the Amplify curriculum were difficult to print, while the appearance of the Gemini chatbot on students’ laptops allowed them to obtain answers during quizzes. As a result, her department began creating paper tests. Teachers also noticed a shortage of hands-on experiments, as well as the considerable time spent monitoring screens through GoGuardian, which is supposed to block YouTube, Minecraft and other distractions. Mosko compares her role to that of a lifeguard watching over students rather than teaching them.
Problems with digitization arise even in elementary school. Former technology teacher Zoe Dash saw kindergarten students begin their first day with a video game, regularly watch videos instead of reading a book with their teacher and choose iPads almost every time during free-choice activities. Families that want to limit screen time find it increasingly difficult to manage without devices as their children grow older: online projects and presentations turn opting out of a school laptop into a serious obstacle.
Screen-time specialist Emily Cherkin now asks schools to disable generative AI features and is concerned that mandatory educational portals may require the submission of personal data. Maxwell acknowledges that a laptop might be useful to him in high school for notes, calendars and creative writing, but he believes the current system simultaneously calls digital choice voluntary while effectively making it mandatory.
Based on: These kids are learning without technology in Seattle Public Schools