These are comments shared by community members when they signed on. They are published with permission. Some requested anonymity and are identified only as Bainbridge community members.
The evidence is clear. While technology can help with research and in depth studies of complex concepts, learning with tech inhibits deeper creativity, stunts curiosity and original thought, and changes brain development. We need to limit the impact of tech at home and in school for this and future generations.
As a parent of a 4th and 6th grader at BISD, I am deeply concerned about the amount of screen time our children are exposed to during the school day. My daughter's entire math program lives inside a screen. The workspace she is given to compute problems is minimal, and tools like calculators are built directly into the platform, available at any moment, whether or not she has earned the right to use them. I believe she should be required to compute math by hand, with pencil and paper, doing the actual work of thinking through a problem. That is how mathematical reasoning develops. A calculator embedded in the platform does not teach her to think. It teaches her to click.
I have also observed something that concerns me equally. Because the platform tells her immediately whether her answer is right or wrong, she has learned to simply submit an answer, check the result, and edit until she gets it correct. While trial and error is a legitimate problem-solving strategy, what I am watching is closer to guess and check, submitting responses without the underlying work, using the system's feedback as a substitute for mathematical reasoning. The fundamentals of math, understanding why an answer is correct, not just that it is, are being bypassed entirely. A blank piece of paper and a pencil do not allow that shortcut.
The district's own community survey identified excessive screen time as the top challenge to student learning. I would like to understand how a math program that lives entirely inside a screen, with a built-in calculator and instant answer feedback, is consistent with that finding.
Overhearing lessons, corrections, and group reading had a profound impact on my K through 6 education. I still remember teachers correcting other students around me in various subjects, and I was often grateful to overhear it because I had the same misunderstandings. Learning to listen to feedback given to others helped me make academic gains I might have missed if I had been isolated with headphones.
I often ask my daughter what she learned on the tablet she uses in her first-grade classroom. She can't tell me what the lesson was about, but she describes the graphics instead.
I had 50 minutes of computer training once a week from fourth through sixth grade, and I feel that was more than adequate. I wish my children had the same level of investment in a hands-on learning environment.
As a Sakai and Ordway uncle, I want to make sure my nieces, and all BISD students, are able to learn, grow, and thrive without excessive screen time.
After teaching in public and private schools for 30 years, I took a job as the head of academics at a residential treatment center for adolescents addicted to screen use. These middle and high school students exhibited the same behaviors as drug addicts. They would do almost anything to get more screen time. The average length of stay for our clients was about 6 months, and most relapsed into uncontrolled tech use within the first year after treatment. Many of them started their addictions in school when they received their own computer. Tech addiction is real and much more pervasive than most people think. I have seen things that are hard to believe.
In my classroom, I insist on having my students read and write on paper as much as possible. We have paper textbooks that we use in class and we have a few extra in the library for students to check out for the school year. Our curriculum offers robust skills practice exercises but they are only available online. I wish we could purchase a paper workbook for our students, like we used to, but it is not a product our curriculum offers. On the other hand, how would we pay for it? They used to cost $15 per student.
We have 2 elementary students who are joining BISD for the next school year. The use of tech in their classrooms is one of my top concerns. Previously our kids have been at a private school with a no-screens policy. While we realize there will be some school mandated screen time with this transition into public education, I have seen how well young kids flourish without any tech in school. Especially for the youngest children, schools minimizing screen time to support social development and better learning overall seems like common sense.
As a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW) in private practice on Bainbridge Island, I work closely with adolescents and their families and see firsthand the growing impact of early and excessive screen use on youth mental health. Across clinical settings and research literature alike, we are observing meaningful associations between high levels of screen exposure and increased rates of anxiety, depression, sleep disruption, attention difficulties, and reduced distress tolerance in children and teenagers.
From a developmental perspective, childhood and adolescence are critical periods for building core capacities such as emotional regulation, identity formation, interpersonal connection, and executive functioning. These skills are best developed through real-world experiences: unstructured play, face-to-face relationships, boredom, creativity, and opportunities to navigate challenge and repair. Excessive screen use can displace these experiences and, in some cases, introduce additional stressors, including social comparison, cyberbullying, and constant cognitive stimulation that the developing brain is not yet equipped to regulate. Neuroscience and developmental psychology also suggest that frequent, high-reward digital engagement may impact attention systems and reinforce patterns of immediate gratification, making it more difficult for young people to tolerate discomfort, sustain focus, and engage in effortful tasks.
As a clinician and a mother, I believe we have a responsibility to create environments that prioritize the long-term well-being of children over convenience or short-term engagement. I strongly support the mission of Intentional Tech Bainbridge Island in advocating for developmentally appropriate, evidence-informed approaches to technology use. Community-wide efforts to delay access, reduce overexposure, and promote healthier norms around screen use are necessary steps in creating an environment where children are able to grow and learn safely.
I work in edtech for a digital curriculum provider. Our researchers try to find ways to challenge educators to use screens judiciously. There are benefits to seeing carefully curated, intentional content. And our educators are burning out. I urge the district to provide other methods of relief besides screen time, which is convenient, but if used inappropriately, harmful to executive function and social-emotional development.
As a former video game developer and a parent, I know that many digital systems are designed to capture and hold attention. Schools have a responsibility to be clear and careful about how technology is used with children. Screens can support learning when they are purposeful, developmentally appropriate, and teacher-led. They can also displace the hands-on, social, and focused work children need. I support Intentional Tech Bainbridge's call for greater transparency, evidence-based decision-making, and more intentional use of technology in our schools.
We have everything at our disposal to make informed, safe, and advantageous choices when it comes to how we approach technology use, availability and guardrails in our district. It would be a shame not to take advantage of that to make intentional and informed choices around technology use, targeted education and exposure.
Technology is a wonderful and powerful tool that requires so much more training and maturity than our young children have when they are introduced. We should be focused on more face to face learning and playing for our younger children and then once they have developed substantive real life skills and an understanding of technology as a tool rather than a crutch then we should use very monitored and limited use of technology as our children grow and learn. We cannot avoid technology but we can avoid the dangers caused by technology overuse and under supervision.
We want lower tech for our kids. We want play. We want teacher to kid learning. We value learning tech but would prefer it used sparingly and possibly delayed until 3rd or 4th grade. Let's get kids moving, outside more, and using their creativity. Research shows kids learn better from teachers not screens.
Screen usage is a tool to pick up after the fundamentals, not to teach the fundamentals.
I'm a bonus parent to a kiddo in BISD, and have a toddler who will be enrolling in BISD in a few years. I've seen both the research and first hand impact of excessive screen use in kids, and applaud BISD for tackling this modern challenge to do its best to set all students up for success in a world inherently full of screens and technology.
I worry that computers are doing the thinking for our children, especially with the advances in AI. One of the goals of schooling is to teach students how to think and evaluate and form opinions. Some of the students, many I fear, wonder why they should work to do that if the computer can do it for them. I am also concerned about interaction, social skills, and respect for different opinions if the computers are doing the analyzing and presentation. I have seen vocabulary and grammatical skills go down as the use of computers in schools increased. Less screen time, more challenges and interactions in the classrooms are needed for our children to learn how to function in the world. Yes, today's world and the one in the future. Some skills never go out of style or lose importance; among them are thinking, analyzing, assessing facts from fiction, creating conclusions, and respectful conversations.
The ubiquitous use of personal computers and smartphones has led to difficulty with attention, concentration, and focus. It is taking over the lives of our youth. I'm in favor of as many non-screen-time educational opportunities as possible to allow our youth time to mature and process without constant over-stimulation.
As a BISD parent and a K-12 educator, I wholeheartedly agree. We need to follow the research on technology in education, which means being more intentional with how we use technology with our children.
We want our awesome teachers to flex their creativity so our kids can too. We also need to model etiquette so we can thrive as a society. Let's take the edtech out.
Too much screen time for young kids. Our family does not do much screen time, and our son is spending 4 to 5 times more screen time at school than he does at home.
Please please please less screens and more paper. My kids told me the best days are when there is no power or Internet because the computers don't work and the teachers teach their own lesson. (Words from Kai, 6th grade, but agreed by his brother Miles, 4th.)
I am deeply concerned about the growing reliance on devices and digital technology in our schools. The most effective learning is hands-on, focused, and social with students testing ideas, failing in real time, and engaging directly with teachers and peers. Screens undermine all of this. They isolate children, fragment attention, expose them to inappropriate content, and cultivate habits of dependency that follow them home. There is also a bigger risk: the creeping normalization of algorithmically generated, low-quality educational content — "educational slop" — dressed up as instruction. When we outsource teaching to devices, we don't just lose engagement. We lose quality, accountability, and the irreplaceable human relationships that make learning stick. It doesn't have to be this way. Let the humans teach the humans.
The district must remove tablets and laptops from routine K-2 classroom instruction before the start of the next school year. An overwhelming body of research demonstrates the harmful effects of excessive digitalization on young children's cognitive, social, and developmental growth. Early childhood is a critical stage for building foundational skills through hands-on learning, human interaction, handwriting, movement, and focused attention. It is essential that we act decisively to remove routine tablet and laptop use from K-2 classrooms and prioritize learning environments that best support healthy child development and long-term academic success.
I don't know the science, but I do know every time my child is near a screen his behavior changes for the worst and his perception of reality does not fit the virtual space at age 6.
I really appreciate what you are doing -- I share these concerns!
Actually a Grandparent... very concerned about screentime.
I volunteer in the classes regularly and it feels like every time I'm in the classrooms, almost everything is done on tablets or Chromebooks. They read a book, then take a test about the book on the computer. Almost all of their math is on the computer. My kindergartener often tries to finish quickly so they can have tablet time. We have followed the research closely, and have intentionally limited screen time since birth, and it feels like all of that intention and effort is negated by the district. When I look at the private schools on the island, the kids attending there have much less screen time, and that really feels like my kids are being put at a disadvantage because I choose public school. It doesn't need to be this way.
As a future BISD parent, I strongly support efforts to bring more intentionality to the use of technology in our classrooms, particularly in the K through 5 years. Childhood is a uniquely important window for developing foundational skills such as gross motor movement, social interaction, emotional regulation, and independent critical thinking. These are best cultivated through hands-on, real world experiences and human connection, not through screens. While technology will always be available to our children as they grow, their early years are limited and irreplaceable. That time should be protected as a time for exploration, creativity, and relationship-building.
Some days, [my child] returns home with nothing but stories of the videos they watched or video games they played in class. This happens even in classes like art and music where it should be entirely possible to provide a multi-sensory learning experience without reliance on technology. It is particularly disappointing in light of the fact that we mainly choose to send them to school for those short hours so they can have social interactions with peers, not to stare passively at a screen, which they can easily do at home if we allowed it.
The amount of low quality videos that my kindergartner is exposed to is discouraging. Rather than read the story of Goldilocks from a book, the teacher just put on a random YouTube video. My kid has also come home asking about ads they've seen in the classroom.
As a healthcare provider, I see firsthand how excessive screen time carries negative impact on pediatric development. It would be great if we can try to limit it as early as possible. This also sets the stage on how their developing brain perceives screen time in the future.
Our family tries very hard to limit screen time and to protect these precious young years of our children that need to understand their world outside of screens. Socialization and learning healthy group dynamics are key reasons to have my children in the public school district.
I support this petition because it reflects a common-sense approach to classroom tech. When tools detract from focus or learning, their use should be limited, not expanded, especially with younger students. BISD should set clear expectations for when technology is truly necessary, measure actual screen time, and ensure that all tools are improving student outcomes. Evidence suggests that screens for younger elementary students are especially counterproductive, so why do we continue to use them at current levels?
I've spoken to [some BISD teachers] and they are against the use of tablets, saying they are not helping them teach but a big hindrance and have caused extra problems in the classroom. Based on the data, our kids will get more than enough screen time growing up. We don't need more. Data coming out proves this. Ask the teachers. They are the ones having to see in real time what is happening as a result of screen time.
As a parent and educator I have seen time and time again the detriment that screens cause in the classroom and in children's lives in general. They have a whole lifetime to use technology and master it. Keep it out of their hands until they are older and better able to handle both the stimulation and the responsibility that comes with it.
I am a licensed MFCT in Washington and California. I completely support what this effort is speaking to. For the wellbeing of all concerned, minimizing screen time for school children is one very important way for the adult world to say, we care enough to be willing to be unpopular.
My child spends some unknown, but seemingly significant amount of time many days doing Epic, which has gamified reading to the point where [my daughter] only now wants to read Epic at home so she can get more stars. I worry that she is missing out on learning the joy of reading for its own sake. It also seems like she mostly has stories read to her on Epic, and is not doing any actual reading of it herself. I otherwise really appreciate and respect her teacher, but I absolutely hate that this is the status quo. If it were up to me, we would almost completely remove tablets from the classroom. I appreciate that this petition is more about transparency and trying to work based on the research, which is the right approach.
Moderation in all things is a timeless adage that the screen-watching world would do well to follow, especially schools. Why? Because screens eclipse the human experience, the senses involved, and thus the inner satisfaction inherent in meaningful learning. How can a child learn the fullness and goodness of who they are, really, if they don't experience age-appropriate interactions with the real world?
I am a mom of a 2-year-old and a therapist. Too much screen time is detrimental for kids, it's addicting, and replaces other social and emotional learning experiences that they should be having. It's heartbreaking to see the mental health effects on kids, and I believe we can change that in a thoughtful way for future generations.
I believe we are too focused on doing everything on computers. Watching my 12-year-old for years now do all of her homework on a laptop is wild. She doesn't use a pencil and paper for writing out the problem solutions. She just writes with a finger on a screen. I believe this hurts her in the long term. She doesn't learn how to logically lay out a correct conclusive answer. She will need this for courses beyond BISD. Now is the time to build on strong written skills.
Future BISD parent here. Our daughter will be in kindergarten in the 2027-2028 school year. Young children do not need screens for learning. Screens have been proven detrimental to young children's brain development, and I strongly oppose the use of screens in early education.
As the mother of preschoolers, I am counting on this community to take the health and well-being of our kids seriously. When we start kindergarten in the coming years, there must not be screens in classrooms.
I do NOT support digitization of classrooms!!! I will pull my kids out of school to learn more meaningful life-skills.
I would LOVE to see less dependency on the Chromebooks… especially for math.
I would love to see screens reduced across the board and am happy to get involved.
Less screens please.
As a parent of a 6th grader, I have become increasingly concerned about the quality of education my child is getting. So much of learning is taking place through a screen: reading assignments, practice tests and even math homework! How is learning focused and evaluated when class assignments, particularly math homework, is done and graded through Google Classroom where showing their work is not encouraged? All that matters is their final answer and whether it is correct or not. Most perplexing is that students are encouraged to look for and add a meme at the end of each math assignment comment section, because if left blank their homework will not be considered complete! Recognizing that technology is part of education, I worry that it's become more of a crutch rather than a support for learning and independent critical thinking.
I understand the value of technology access throughout the school day. However, I am very concerned about the unintentional increases to screen time that kids have access to because they bear the responsibility of transporting their device. Kids are on their screens at the bus stop, on the bus and during lunch as well as in class. Since my children brought home their devices, we are constantly forced to manage access, lock down websites and patrol usage. Google Classroom is a cloud based service and I see no need to send devices home with children unless their families want/need to opt in because they do not have a device at home.
The school issued devices undermine my parenting, allowing my student access to YouTube and video games, which they have accessed during class time and lunch, and keeps them from engaging with peers on a healthy social level, further feeding the mental health challenges we are navigating with them.
I'm a parent to two younger children who will enter BISD in the future. One of my biggest concerns as a parent is how much of their school time will be spent on screens. The research is abundantly clear at this point that technology like this actually hurts learning outcomes and genuine student engagement, especially in the classroom. I sincerely hope that BISD changes their policies here and rapidly removes tablets, Chromebooks, and digital learning apps from our schools to create better learning environments for our kids.
The online/computer based math tool my 3rd grader is using in the classroom seems to have actually led to her falling behind in math this year. It's not working for her and I'm sure it's not working for other kiddos as well.
The data tells it like it is and what we see in our children, grandchildren backs up that screen time steals their lives.
Less screens more books.
Learning should be multisensory. Please reduce the use of screens in our children's classrooms.