Laptops for every kid is the worst decision made in modern education

[Anonymous]

Yep, get rid of the laptops

[Anonymous]

I just found out my 2nd grader gets free time on his computer while other kids use Lexia because he finished Lexia in September. Dumb me assuming that if he finished Lexia he would be given other work or reading assignments not free time on a computer.

We dont have a Kindle Ipad or computer for him at home. I am doing my part in not making my child a dumba$$. Jokes on me thinking the teacher and school would also have the same goal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a teacher/librarian, and I completely agree. It wasn’t the Covid closures that wrecked education, it was the switch to one to one devices. My students’ interest in reading has nosedived in the last five years. And why shouldn’t it? They use devices for every task in the classroom, including reading instruction. We know from research that the best predictor of good reading skills is time spent reading books, and yet we don’t make that the core of our literacy curriculum anymore.

I’m hearing from admin and instructional facilitators how great AI is and how it will help me do my job better. It’s truly disturbing. Using AI to write objectives or questions for a lessons is insane. Teachers should know their content and goals well enough to do that easily.

I suspect in 10 or 20 years we will be ashamed of this era of education.

Agreed. Once my kids got their chromebooks from school, their attention spans to anything else tanked.

The saddest thing for me was when my oldest said that her teacher "read" them books by showing them videos in class of people reading books.

As parents, we can try and try, but if they're giving them crackbooks at school, there's not much we can do about it. Idk why I even bothered being interactive with my kids and not using screens before Kindergarten (other than movie nights or ipads on plane trips).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can see them being a disaster in poorly run school districts but in well run schools that use them correctly it’s a perfect blend. Especially starting in middle school.

i might agree with you if it started in middle school. nope- it starts in kindergarten.

Apart from the learning, it's the attention span issue that's really hurting kids. Laptops are just so addicting. And they're gameified.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just found out my 2nd grader gets free time on his computer while other kids use Lexia because he finished Lexia in September. Dumb me assuming that if he finished Lexia he would be given other work or reading assignments not free time on a computer.

We dont have a Kindle Ipad or computer for him at home. I am doing my part in not making my child a dumba$$. Jokes on me thinking the teacher and school would also have the same goal.

I definitely see this happening. And it’s impossible to get those early finishers to read a book because who wants to read when there are twenty otherscreens plus your own to stare at?

Much of ES culture has lost a core of sustained silent reading and it’s going to take a LOT of work to regain that lost ground.

[Anonymous]

I'm reading a book titled the, The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt! Wow! I have a middleschooler who doesn't have a phone. One subject uses an online textbook. Just that alone opened us up to 2-3 hrs of computer use a day before we realized what was happening. Kid was completing homework super fast and then playing on the computer. We caught on after 2-3 months when kid's attention span tanked, behavior was an issue, etc. I cannot even imagine how things would have been with a phone thrown in the mix.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm reading a book titled the, The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt! Wow! I have a middleschooler who doesn't have a phone. One subject uses an online textbook. Just that alone opened us up to 2-3 hrs of computer use a day before we realized what was happening. Kid was completing homework super fast and then playing on the computer. We caught on after 2-3 months when kid's attention span tanked, behavior was an issue, etc. I cannot even imagine how things would have been with a phone thrown in the mix.

Kid was probably so excited to connect to the social aspect of school that she overdid. Either extreme, too much or zero, is not good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My children are in public schools in a “great” school/area, but having a laptop for each student and using them for every class, almost every assignment, is the worst decision in educational policy. I have heard from my kids of so many instances during class time when kids are using their school-issued laptops to not only get answers from AI, but carry out full discussions with AI, as well as using their laptops to video record and photograph other kids and then use those images in generative AI in horrible ways. The teachers have alternately either done nothing when told about this, or are seemingly unaware when this goes on under their noses. This happens in AAP, AP, every class, all the time. The kids have no attention span, aren’t learning, and are becoming socially maladapted for any functioning society.

I'm a teacher. We completely agree with this. We hate those damn things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm reading a book titled the, The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt! Wow! I have a middleschooler who doesn't have a phone. One subject uses an online textbook. Just that alone opened us up to 2-3 hrs of computer use a day before we realized what was happening. Kid was completing homework super fast and then playing on the computer. We caught on after 2-3 months when kid's attention span tanked, behavior was an issue, etc. I cannot even imagine how things would have been with a phone thrown in the mix.

Kid was probably so excited to connect to the social aspect of school that she overdid. Either extreme, too much or zero, is not good.

No, that wasn't it. Kid doesn't have a phone. That doesn't mean they don't get tablet time on weekends. Kids can't control themselves when tablets are around. The situation gets worse the older they get. How old are your kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My children are in public schools in a “great” school/area, but having a laptop for each student and using them for every class, almost every assignment, is the worst decision in educational policy. I have heard from my kids of so many instances during class time when kids are using their school-issued laptops to not only get answers from AI, but carry out full discussions with AI, as well as using their laptops to video record and photograph other kids and then use those images in generative AI in horrible ways. The teachers have alternately either done nothing when told about this, or are seemingly unaware when this goes on under their noses. This happens in AAP, AP, every class, all the time. The kids have no attention span, aren’t learning, and are becoming socially maladapted for any functioning society.

I'm a teacher. We completely agree with this. We hate those damn things.

As a teacher, I hate them too… as a person who collects checks and has a health insurance for the lowlow it’s good. My kids don’t attend public school xD

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm reading a book titled the, The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt! Wow! I have a middleschooler who doesn't have a phone. One subject uses an online textbook. Just that alone opened us up to 2-3 hrs of computer use a day before we realized what was happening. Kid was completing homework super fast and then playing on the computer. We caught on after 2-3 months when kid's attention span tanked, behavior was an issue, etc. I cannot even imagine how things would have been with a phone thrown in the mix.

great you're reading that, but there are a lot of complaints with that book FYI

I won't spoil anything but just read some reviews when you're done

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm reading a book titled the, The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt! Wow! I have a middleschooler who doesn't have a phone. One subject uses an online textbook. Just that alone opened us up to 2-3 hrs of computer use a day before we realized what was happening. Kid was completing homework super fast and then playing on the computer. We caught on after 2-3 months when kid's attention span tanked, behavior was an issue, etc. I cannot even imagine how things would have been with a phone thrown in the mix.

great you're reading that, but there are a lot of complaints with that book FYI

I won't spoil anything but just read some reviews when you're done

Please share your thoughts about it. I'm open to hear feedback so please post your thoughts/experience with the book.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:School districts don't care and will blame parents (their go-to excuse for their own incompetence) for as long as they can get away with it. Parents have to go to state legislators to fix this.

The districts are ran by lazy people. I hope these losers reap what they sow one day and have the students who they shafted on reading and math administering their meds at the nursing home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School districts don't care and will blame parents (their go-to excuse for their own incompetence) for as long as they can get away with it. Parents have to go to state legislators to fix this.

This. The administrators and teachers found a way to do as little as possible. They don’t care if their kids become imbeciles.

HS teacher for over a decade. Can confirm this. I literally no longer spend any time outside of my contract hours for absolutely anything.

AI for planning. Own students grading their tests (with blind codes, no names on it so my rear is saved from any snowflake complaining), computer this computer that. Also gamification of stuff. It’s wild. But now I have a life to live AND can make serious cash on the side with tutoring and coaching. Some months my side hustles actually bring me in more than my teacher checks. In all honesty, the reason to still do this is for the health insurance lol not gonna lie

Yeah. Teachers don’t care. They just want to work their designated hours, show some dumb slides, and collect gift cards from parents.

I had some awesome teachers in the 80s and 90s. They gave a shit and some even stayed after school to tutor us. Those teachers no longer exist. Now, it’s here, do some extra work on the laptop and blame mom when you fail.

[Anonymous]

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/education/los-angeles-school-district-require-screen-time-limits-rcna332173

Hopefully the tide is turning. I am in CA and people are livid about this here, how kids can access youtube in class and are forced to bring the homework home is absurd. Keep showing up at the board meetings.