Anonymous
Post 01/22/2026 13:17     Subject: School laptops
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I really think we need to get rid of these laptops for everything. My kid is addicted and we can’t break the addiction because he needs the damn laptop for everything he does at school.


Same! We know our kids are addicted. They're on their "devices" 24/7. We have taken phones and iPads away but we cannot do the same for the school laptop. I cannot even confiscate it and give it only for homework because they need it for almost every piece of homework that they have to submit. I didn't have (or know) kids in high school prior to COVID so I don't understand what was done before COVID, but after COVID has been a disaster when it comes to technology consumption. Then you get these news articles about how technology and the inability to do anything without digital technology are ruining the cognitive skills of young kids, just when they're supposed to be developing their cognitive skills ... ugh ... or that school districts in Silicon Valley are purposely going back to brick/mortar methods and not allowing any form of technology into their classrooms and you really wonder what we're setting our kids up for.


We are setting them up to be the have nots, and with their burgeoning lack of cognitive skills to be okay with it, docile even.


I wonder how many people post things like this while working for companies pushing AI slip engines on the public?
Anonymous
Post 01/22/2026 12:41     Subject: School laptops
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I really think we need to get rid of these laptops for everything. My kid is addicted and we can’t break the addiction because he needs the damn laptop for everything he does at school.


Same! We know our kids are addicted. They're on their "devices" 24/7. We have taken phones and iPads away but we cannot do the same for the school laptop. I cannot even confiscate it and give it only for homework because they need it for almost every piece of homework that they have to submit. I didn't have (or know) kids in high school prior to COVID so I don't understand what was done before COVID, but after COVID has been a disaster when it comes to technology consumption. Then you get these news articles about how technology and the inability to do anything without digital technology are ruining the cognitive skills of young kids, just when they're supposed to be developing their cognitive skills ... ugh ... or that school districts in Silicon Valley are purposely going back to brick/mortar methods and not allowing any form of technology into their classrooms and you really wonder what we're setting our kids up for.


We are setting them up to be the have nots, and with their burgeoning lack of cognitive skills to be okay with it, docile even.
Anonymous
Post 01/21/2026 17:18     Subject: School laptops
I would love to tell my kids teachers to take the laptop away. Would that even be possible? Every single assignment is on the damn laptop. Even PE.
Anonymous
Post 01/21/2026 13:59     Subject: School laptops
Anonymous wrote:I really think we need to get rid of these laptops for everything. My kid is addicted and we can’t break the addiction because he needs the damn laptop for everything he does at school.


I hear this! It’s incredibly frustrating.
Anonymous
Post 01/21/2026 13:53     Subject: School laptops
Anonymous wrote:I really think we need to get rid of these laptops for everything. My kid is addicted and we can’t break the addiction because he needs the damn laptop for everything he does at school.


What school level? And do you monitor your child's Lightspeed report?

I ask because I have found my MS does NOT have to use their laptop all the time, I'd say <10% of the day is active schoolwork on the laptop.

If your kid is just circumventing the firewall then your option is to take away the laptop and write all the teachers. Tell them that your child won't have a laptop for a week (ideally you'd give the teachers warning ahead of time) due to misuse.


Also, while monitoring your child's internet use is NOT the teacher's job they generally are quite willing to help if you message them.
Anonymous
Post 01/21/2026 13:07     Subject: School laptops
Anonymous wrote:I really think we need to get rid of these laptops for everything. My kid is addicted and we can’t break the addiction because he needs the damn laptop for everything he does at school.


Same! We know our kids are addicted. They're on their "devices" 24/7. We have taken phones and iPads away but we cannot do the same for the school laptop. I cannot even confiscate it and give it only for homework because they need it for almost every piece of homework that they have to submit. I didn't have (or know) kids in high school prior to COVID so I don't understand what was done before COVID, but after COVID has been a disaster when it comes to technology consumption. Then you get these news articles about how technology and the inability to do anything without digital technology are ruining the cognitive skills of young kids, just when they're supposed to be developing their cognitive skills ... ugh ... or that school districts in Silicon Valley are purposely going back to brick/mortar methods and not allowing any form of technology into their classrooms and you really wonder what we're setting our kids up for.
Anonymous
Post 01/21/2026 12:04     Subject: School laptops
Anonymous wrote:Yes, students have found ways to bypass the Lightspeed filtering system. IT has been made aware and has supposedly passed the information on to Lightspeed for them to fix.


Can you give some details on this please?

Also, have there been any identified options or remediations for parents when trying to counter these bypasses by students?

My main method is simple identifying the gaps in URLs showing up in Lightspeed when I know a kid of mine has a computer-intensive class.
Anonymous
Post 01/21/2026 12:01     Subject: School laptops
Anonymous wrote:The have computers because all of the textbooks became woke and no one wanted them anymore.


How do you type and have a stroke at the same time?
Anonymous
Post 01/21/2026 11:50     Subject: School laptops
Anonymous wrote:For Blocked Content, I bet the thrill of it all is more about the challenge to find a work around.


No, it's seeing the porn.
Anonymous
Post 01/21/2026 09:54     Subject: School laptops
Anonymous wrote:Yes they are. They’re able to bypass the websites schools block by using Chrome Sign-in. Also masterlists of unblocked websites and proxies and workarounds are constantly being shared. I’m a middle school teacher and have caught boys watching porn in class. Parents and teachers need to lobby against FCPS giving middle schoolers laptops.


Thank you- agree with you
Anonymous
Post 01/21/2026 09:43     Subject: School laptops
I really think we need to get rid of these laptops for everything. My kid is addicted and we can’t break the addiction because he needs the damn laptop for everything he does at school.
Anonymous
Post 01/21/2026 09:01     Subject: School laptops
Anonymous wrote:The have computers because all of the textbooks became woke and no one wanted them anymore.


Things that never happened for $1,000, Alex.
Anonymous
Post 01/20/2026 17:56     Subject: School laptops
The have computers because all of the textbooks became woke and no one wanted them anymore.
Anonymous
Post 01/18/2026 16:29     Subject: School laptops
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I agree these laptops have ruined school for elementary/middle school. Bring back textboooks, written matter, and interactive work.


None of that will matter if you don’t take away phones.


Phones are away for the day in FCPS. And yes it will matter if laptops are away. It would be better.
Anonymous
Post 01/18/2026 15:22     Subject: School laptops
For Blocked Content, I bet the thrill of it all is more about the challenge to find a work around.