Ohio Schools Curb Screen Time as States Push Back on Classroom Technology
At least 16 states have considered bills this year to limit classroom technology use, responding to concerns from parents, educators and lawmakers about student attention, behavior and learning outcomes.
Ohio has moved faster than most. A 2024 law required school districts to make cellphone usage "as limited as possible during school hours." The following year, lawmakers went further and prohibited student phone use during instructional time. The state also mandated that all districts adopt an AI policy by July.
Columbus schools passed a policy in March that treats unauthorized AI use as plagiarism. The policy outlines grade-level usage guidelines, permitted and prohibited applications, and specific guardrails.
Evidence from the field
McPherson Middle School in Kansas suspended fewer students after banning cellphones in 2022. The suspension rate fell 70%. Students also began talking more with each other and with teachers.
Schools Beyond Screens, a nonprofit that started with fewer than a dozen parents in Los Angeles Unified School District, has grown to thousands of members nationwide. The organization worked with the nation's second-largest district to pass a resolution limiting classroom screen time and eliminating school-issued devices for first-graders and younger. Similar resolutions have followed in New York City and Washington, D.C.
A divided field
The American Federation of Teachers, the second-largest teachers' union in the U.S., released a 10-point plan to establish guardrails around AI and screen time. The plan would limit AI use and ban screens for students in prekindergarten through second grade unless there is a compelling reason, such as supporting students with special needs.
The Consortium for School Networking, a nonprofit for education technology leaders with corporate partners including Amazon, Google and Microsoft, takes a different view. A 2025 report from the group says that education technology "can support differentiation, accessibility, enrichment, and workforce preparation in the K-12 classroom" when used with intention and balance.
What principals say
Inge Esping, principal of McPherson Middle School, frames the debate plainly: "Tech alone is not an enhancement of learning." Teachers remain "the most important" factor in what students "will or won't learn," she said.
For educators looking to navigate these shifts, resources like the AI Learning Path for Teachers can help clarify how to work with AI tools effectively in a classroom setting.
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