Panelists say screen time concerns are real but urge digital‑citizenship education and purposeful classroom use
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Summary
Dr. Amy Alzena and Sal Khan addressed parental worries about screen time, urging schools to teach digital citizenship and limit classroom device exposure; Alzena estimated classroom device time at about an hour a day for grades 4–6 and 20–40 minutes for lower grades and said most excess screen use occurs at home.
The moderator raised parental anxiety about screen time. Dr. Amy Alzena said parents share those concerns and recommended starting with structured digital‑citizenship lessons (Common Sense Media) to teach both students and teachers how to recognize bias and use devices responsibly.
Alzena gave classroom estimates: she said students in grades four through six are “probably on a device max, maybe...an hour a day,” with lower grades closer to 20–40 minutes. She emphasized that much of children’s screen exposure happens at home rather than during school hours.
Sal Khan agreed that the focus should be instructional purpose, not technology for its own sake. He said active learning and teacher engagement distinguish productive from unproductive screen time and asserted that cell phones have “no business” in the school setting.
Why it matters: Parents, teachers and districts continue to weigh the instructional benefits of digital tools against concerns about overuse. Panelists framed the solution as teaching digital citizenship, setting clear in‑class device limits, and designing activities with clear learning goals.
No formal guidance, policy or timing for district actions was announced during the session.
