Classrooms Without iPads

Teachers need to teach!! Electronic devices just weaken minds.

Little kids needs to learn to write and draw on the paper.

IPADS were brought into my classroom when I taught PRE-K in Austin ISD. I did not want the screen time for my students, but the admin did! A special needs student who could not talk used it appropriately, but Pre-K should be about increasing skills such as speaking, learning to enjoy reading by listening, making friends, etc. NOT being stuck on an IPAD!

Elementary iPads = Do Not Support There is plenty of time in middle and high school to teach our kids about digital learning. I support completely iPad-free elementary schools.

We came from a similar high performing school district in Westport, CT that did not have ipads in Elementary and Middle school and I was so disappointed to find out the kids would be spending down time or educational time in front of screens. There are many other activities that kids could engage in outside of apps and games.

I am very much against iPads at school. I much prefer my third grade daughter being told to read a book when she is done her work versus play games on her ipad. Teachers seem to use them as a babysitting tool, and my third grader frequently talks about the amount of time she spends on her ipad at school, and it was all she wanted to show me when we had Eanes School night. The iPads squash the need for creativity. My middle schooler at Hill country somehow has no textbooks and everything is on the ipad. This seems to focus many assignments on media-type photo editing and artwork submissions. This is a stark contrast with my oldest child, who went through middle school in a private Austin school with no iPads. She had vastly more challenging work, and she had textbooks and was forced to read voluminous amounts of information, take notes, and annotate texts. Many children have their own phones and ipads for personal use, and we, as parents, are constantly trying to monitor and limit their screen time. Having the schools promoting screen time contradicts the outcomes we are trying to achieve.

It has been proven that 4 hours or more of screen time a day slows the prefrontal lobe development. That's a scary statistic when you consider most parents allow some screen or tv time at home on top of the kids being on the iPads much throughout the school day too.

1 to 1 iPads in Elementary school have started many of our kids on a screen addiction, no matter how much is monitored at home. I wish the district would finally hear us.

It is alarming to hear how frequently kids use iPads in elementary school. I don't think daily usage is the answer, especially in kinder-3.

I feel the overuse ipads hinder kids development in the areas creativity , memorization/ retention , organization and penmanship . I am strongly against being constantly plugged in ... all studies are linking this to unfavorable outcomes. Making it a mandatory part of school seems unfair to our kiddos!!!

I read Dr. Leonard's response to iPad/technology use within the district. I love and trust our teachers and administration at Eanes. I believe that love my children and have their very best interest at heart. I believe the same to be true of the educational technologists in the district. I am extremely grateful for the care and teaching they have given my children over the years. I also think it's giving the teachers a nearly impossible task to constantly monitor iPad use for 20+ kids simultaneously. If we are unable to offer non-LEAP elementary classroom options, is there a technology that puts a live shot of each iPad screen on the class smart board or teacher's laptop so that the usage could be monitored more easily?

Children do NOT need ipads in the classroom.

iPads must be closely monitored...especially at elementary level. That’s very hard for a teacher with 20+ kids to do. Laptops for high school would be nice! iPads have meant my kids won’t type and I have a 16 year old who pecks away when typing papers.

Thank you for this petition! I have thought for a long time that the use of Ipads in the classroom is not appropriate for our children's' overall learning and development. Agree 100%. Please remove ipads from the schools. Computer labs or other specific use technology can serve necessary purpose.

I have not read one bit of research that supports to use of iPads in classrooms. I also struggle to believe we are truly focused on Emotional social learning when we allow kids to stare at screens.....

My 3rd grader has openly stated (without being prompted) that she is on an iPad too much at school. iPads do not belong on elementary campuses.

Bring back textbooks in middle school and high school, take HS math off the iPad, block all sites that have no connection to lessons, no iPads before 5th grade and very limited usage through high school. And require cell phones be left in a designated holder when entering the classroom!

I think this should be an option for elementary if the District cannot shut off general browsing and YouTube.

pls get the iPads out of elementary school classrooms.

I am in support of having the option to place my kids in a Non-LEAP program