Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Education Technology topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Parent cites national guidance, urges Neshaminy to restrict non-instructional device use for young children
Summary
A parent referenced American Academy of Pediatrics and Surgeon General guidance and urged the Neshaminy board to reduce or ban non-instructional device use during the school day for kindergarten and first graders, highlighting concerns about brain breaks and attention.
During the second public comment period, Alyssa Ivasca (61 Cobalt Cross, Levittown) urged the board to consider limits on non‑instructional device use for young students. Ivasca said national guidance — including recent scientific papers from the American Academy of Pediatrics and a U.S. Surgeon General advisory — frame digital use as part of a broader "digital ecosystem" and recommend boundaries during the school day.
Ivasca asked the district to reduce or ban non‑instructional device use (for example, gaming or free play on laptops during indoor recess) and emphasized research linking brain breaks and unstructured movement to cognitive absorption of lessons. "They need that time to not just be spending on the screens," she said, and asked the board to treat school policy as part of a public‑health response to the documented harms cited by national advisories.
Board members did not take immediate policy action at the meeting. The comment placed the issue on the record for potential follow up by district staff and committees.
