The Los Angeles Unified School District’s board voted Tuesday to restrict students’ use of laptops and tablets in class and encourage pen-and-paper assignments instead, making it the first major American school system to do so.
The sweeping resolution, which passed 6-0 with one recusal, requires the district to create a screen time policy for each grade and subject, prohibit students in first grade and younger from using devices, clarify the process for parents to opt their children out of using technology at school, and audit their education technology contracts.
“We have responsibility as one of the largest districts to draw a line in the sand when it comes to this recalibration and start the conversation,” Nick Melvoin, the board member in charge of drafting the resolution, said in an interview ahead of the vote.
The vote follows months of pressure from parents who started a group called Schools Beyond Screens, speaking at board meetings, on social media, at district listening sessions, and in private meetings with administrators and board members about problems their children faced when required to use school-issued Chromebooks and iPads.
Families previously told that their children’s grades had dropped as they became distracted playing video games in class, watching YouTube, and scrolling social media and internet forums. Parents and teachers also complained that some middle schools reserved one day a week for students to complete online math and reading quizzes, which disrupted unrelated classes such as gym, music and science.
“This is a historic reform that we hope will trickle down to the rest of the country very, very quickly,” said Anya Meksin, a mother of two and a deputy director of Schools Beyond Screens, which she said has 2,000 members locally. “We see this as a big cultural shift into how schools approach technology.”
The resolution requires the district to present a detailed screen time policy to the school board in June, to take effect in the 2026-2027 school year. The policy must largely restrict elementary and middle school students from using devices during lunch and recess, and it must prohibit students from seeking out YouTube videos on their own, according to the resolution.
