Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Education topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Holmdel panel brings parents, educators and clinicians together to discuss screen time and school policy
Summary
A Holmdel community panel convened parents, clinicians, educators and students to discuss screen time’s effects on sleep, attention and mental health and to preview local responses including a new digital citizenship elective and a district plan for a bell-to-bell phone ban.
A community panel hosted by the Balance Project in Holmdel gathered parents, school staff, clinicians and students to discuss how screen use affects learning, mental health and family life. Organizers framed the event as a conversation about ‘‘balancing life and technology’’ and invited practical strategies from occupational therapists, a middle-school principal, a crisis-unit clinician and three students.
Panelists said the issue is not only how many minutes children spend on devices but what they do with them. "Not all screen time is equal," said Shantel Simonelli, principal of William R. Satz Middle School, who added that educational, collaborative uses differ from passive scrolling. Students described social pressure to be online: "Teens today can feel like they have to be available 24/7," one student said. Panelists also previewed the district’s next steps, including a new 7th-grade digital citizenship elective and plans to roll out a stricter bell-to-bell phone policy in schools.
