Why are so many schools making pupils learn on screens? | Letters
Readers respond to an editorial about technology’s impact on children’s wellbeing, saying that many schools increasingly rely on iPads as teaching aids
As a parent of two primary schoolchildren, I read your article with recognition and concern (The Guardian view on screens in schools: big tech is finally under the microscope, 27 April). Our school has recently introduced a one-to-one iPad scheme, and almost all of the children’s work now seems to be completed on iPads. At the same time, parents are expected to manage multiple, and often poorly designed, apps for communication, payments and even recording children’s reading.
Many parents are increasingly uneasy about this shift. Schools in the trust appear to be increasing screen time at precisely the moment when there is little clear evidence of any overall benefit for children. Meanwhile, there is growing evidence of the downsides: distraction, reduced concentration, difficulty sustaining attention away from devices and poorer literacy and learning outcomes.
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