Reply to vent about screens in cafeteria

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I agree and often feel I am alone in my opinion. Even worse is early elementary teacher who play videos of books being read, rather than reading to their students. [/quote]

+100
Screens really need to be removed for the most part from elementary schools - maybe from all schools.  These kids get more than enough screen time at home.

It seems like every time I sub in an elementary school, I’m asked to put on a video about a book instead of just READING the book aloud.  One time, the video wouldn’t play for some reason so I just read to the students and they were completely focused, engaged, and silent.  These kids need books, not videos.[/quote]

As a teacher I agree, [b]but only if there are rules about not allowing young children on ipads in public spaces. [/b] Expecting teachers and ONLY teachers to teach children how to interact in public spaces is untenable. Parents also need to grocery shop, go to the library, wait in line and at restaurants with their kids and teach them how to wait, look and attend in public areas.   I see so many kids in restaurants, in the car, in line, at the store being given screens, it is impossible to expect teachers to compete with that AND be the only ones modeling good behavior. [/quote]

Uh, no.  I have elementary and middle school aged kids, and we are very restrictive about screens.  We only have 1 family ipad, and it doesnt leave the house.  The kids don't have smartphones.  There are time limits for screens on weekends (and no screens except for schoolwork on weekdays).  I'm appalled at how loose many parents are with screens, and I agree it contributes to the poor behavior of kids in schools and wish we could all agree to better limits.  However, I think it's  total copout for a teacher to say they won't do what they know is the right thing by the kids because some parents are dropping the ball.  Aside from the poor logic of that, it's doubly unfair for the kids who can restrain themselves and focus and behave in school to suffer from their classmates' crappy behavior AND from the teacher washing her hands of any responsibility to teach well.[/quote]

Tech restrictive parent here and I agree with teacher PP. Sure [i]your kids and mine[/i] can entertain themselves quietly when they're done with work (mine learned this by sitting through full long church services) and know how to interact in a group respectfully. But the kids they are in class with whose parents have been forking over an iPad at every quiet minute since they were tiny toddlers? Those kids can't. I've volunteered in the classroom a ton and I've seen it first hand. I know who those kids are from seeing them at the pool over the summer, iPad in hand whenever there was a break or something. And then I see them at school and I see how they can't sit still.

Are there teachers who can handle it? Sure! I've seen some really amazing teachers who still manage a read aloud of their own even with those kids in class. They don't touch a screen. They set expectations and carry them out. But they're rare. Expecting [i]every[/i] teacher to be them is like expecting every teacher to be able to come up with their own amazing curriculum from TPT that differentiates and actually challenges each kid. Just because somebody can do it doesn't mean everyone can. Just because somebody can do it doesn't mean textbooks, workbooks, and scripted lesson plans aren't better for those who really struggle in that area.

So yeah - other parents really are to blame here, PP. They really are.[/quote]

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