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CPAC leader and student presenters warn of excessive screen time, urge families to unplug
Summary
At a CPAC/SEPAC session, a CPAC leader and student presenters said heavy daily screen use is harming creativity and family interaction, cited figures including "up to 8 hours" of daily screen time and urged parents and siblings to reduce device use to support students.
A CPAC leader said at a CPAC/SEPAC session that students and family members are reporting widespread harm from excessive screen time and urged families to reduce device use so children can engage more fully at school and home.
The leader summarized feedback from students and families, saying a key takeaway was "how much time is spent on screens and how it is negatively negatively impacting us." The speaker recounted student appeals that siblings and parents "put your phone down and really talk and play with us," and added, "It's better to be bored."
The session included specific claims about time spent on devices. The speaker said some children "need to spend up to 8 hours of time on a screen each day and that is not even including homework," and later stated a broader claim that "most teens spend up to 4 months per year on screens." The speaker framed the commercial logic behind free apps as a factor in youth exposure, saying, "If you aren't paying with your piggy bank, you're paying with your privacy."
On creativity and social effects, the speaker said, "Tech tries to make you think you're being creative when you're uh really becoming less creative," and contrasted "real freedom"—the ability to be oneself among friends and family—with "fake freedom" driven by influencers and peer pressure. The speaker also noted that some students created presentations for older siblings specifically urging them to reduce phone use.
The CPAC leader relayed a common family comment: "I don't know what I should be asking for," and then announced a personal leadership change: after five years in CPAC leadership, they "will step down after this year" and encouraged others to continue SEPAC's work.
The speaker closed by noting that "behavior change is difficult" and asked the group to consider what priorities the school-community partnership should emphasize to prepare students for an evolving digital landscape. No formal motions or votes were recorded in the transcript.
