Parent Voices: Real Stories about Tech in CVUSD Schools My high school children both have ADHD and have trouble staying on task. Requiring them to do their work on a medium that has multiple distractions just a click away is beyond their ability to regulate themselves and focus on their work. Both have experienced constant distractions, friends messaging during class, classmates in proximity with videos or games on their screens. My youngest who isn’t predisposed to distractions, still has trouble with sustained reading, hitch research attributes to the use of short passages on a screen versus longer text assignments. He had such trouble in 4th grade with English texts on the Chromebook and having to toggle back and forth from the passage to answer questions, he made many errors due to the modality. And I know it was due to the modality because when asked his teacher to provide the test on paper, his grades improved dramatically. When I asked why he thought that was, he said he was able to underline key words and could see the text in total rather than broken up by what fit in a screen’s text box. So it was easy to determine what the “third paragraph” was or find the quotes being used. Weathersfield did an awesome job balancing tech. Students had access to computers or chrome books, but only used them for specific activities or learning opportunities. They were not on them nor did they have them on their desks at all times. Also, they did not use computers for homework. Los Cerritos was a different experience. My son did a great job at the beginning of 6th grade using his chrome book for assignments and homework. The moment he learned that he could access you tube and games on his device, he started missing assignments, doing poorly on tests, and his learning and grades dropped. He often stated, "I just can't help it when it's right there." He is now in 8th grade and it is still a problem. As a family we struggle with the chrome book because my husband and I are not able to set up safeguards as we do not have admin access. If I were to change one thing about my son's middle school experience, it would be getting the chrome books out of the classrooms! I recommend them going to the same model as elementary schools. They are used as a tool when needed. My daughter was introduced to Internet gaming on her computer by her teacher, and taught in class how to access Minecraft on her Chromebook. She also has full access to YouTube, and watches all kinds of junk on there at inappropriate times, including in the middle of the night- she sneaks her Chromebook into bed with her, and I don't find out until later. She has a tablet that has parental controls, so I can block websites and set up daily screen time limits, as well as monitor her activity. There is NOTHING like this on the school-issued Chromebooks, and I wish there was!! Parents should be able to set and control limits on the Chromebook, and block inappropriate websites, and parents should be able to fully monitor what their kids are accessing on those Chromebooks. My daughter exhibits screen addiction behavior, and I have to learn what to do about it, and free, unmonitored laptops from the school are not helping! Both of my kids have shared many stories of peers gaming on Chromebooks in class. We’ve caught our own kids gaming on Chromebook’s under the guise of working on homework when we have taken away their home devices. Kids create elaborate Google slide presentations that become lengthy (months long) group chats which can become hurtful, inappropriate, and exclusionary. Our kids have lost their love of reading and writing and have become prisoners to devices over the past few years. Really miss the days before these devices became integral to their lives (via Covid zoom school and subsequent increase in device dependence). Both kids were once avid readers and wrote incredible stories, even their own chapter books. We have a child entering Tk who does not have access to devices. Going to do everything in our power to delay this for him. Our family is currently considering TK school options but we are applying outside of the district due to the amount of screen time for CVUSD students. I would love to send my child to our neighborhood school but we are a low-screen household and believe in hands-on learning. Professionally I work in tech, specializing in database, application and AI development. I’m not against technology but young children do not need exposure to high addictive screens so young while their brains are growing. Additionally, at the rapid pace of tech advancement, what they are learning in 2026 will not be practically relevant in 2040. Coding labs or computer enrichment classes would be fine, but I can’t send my son to a school that relies on daily Chromebook use. My children were not allowed to have much gaming/computer time at home, then they were given Chromebooks at school and were expected to be proficient on them. They, at times, did worse on tests because they weren’t use to that testing format. My daughter was frequently considered a burden for not knowing how to sign in to her Chromebook (in first grade). Now my son is in middle school, I found him wasting his time at home and at school playing games when he should have been working. His spelling has also suffered- he knows he can just use spell check later- and now Word/google even can guess or finish his sentence for him. I wanted to install my own parent controls on his computer, but it isn’t allowed. My 8th grader spends all day on the computer at school then comes home to several hours of homework on the computer. My 5th grader looks at things online during class time that is not related to school. He watches videos and listens to music. He has googled things during class to help with homework/classwork. We’ve printed his search history and on some mornings he’s googled 10+ things within the first 30 min of school. In 5th grade he still plays silly games that are supposed to help him study meanwhile he doesn’t know how to take notes or study pages he brings home; it’s all made into a game, which isn’t functional for high school and beyond. I am deeply worried about AI, chrome book usage, overuse of smart screens in the classroom. We have all seen the data on poor educational and mental health outcomes from screen and device use. As a mental health therapist and parent I want to see technology limited in elementary schools. I want personal devices banned from classroom through high school. I want to know AI use will be limited and highly monitored. I want technology to be a tool not a crutch or focus in the classroom. Our children deserve the best and technology overuse harms them and the educational environment. My son has dyslexia and using screens has harmed his ability to learn. His specific language processing issues requires the frequent brain to body connections that paper and pencil provide as reinforce. Screens do not have the same effect. Moreover, the screens read for him, in IXL and his reading assignments, which is ok for a workaround later, but bypassing his learning of foundational reading and writing skills is dangerous. The whole point of education is to teach these foundational skills, not work around them. We are a screen free home and only do a movie night every week or two as a family. This is an activity that we do together and is not just them staring at a screen by themselves. The amount of screen time I’ve seen in the school even just TK - first grade feels very unnecessary. I have volunteered every week in both of my kids classes and even though the TV or iPads might seem to help control the kids, I believe it actually makes it harder for them to pay attention and listen after the fact. Unfettered access to YouTube (because it’s for “learning”) has led to us having to go against our household restrictions in the name of schoolwork. My 12 year old no longer reads books at all without being forced, which has subsequently led to having a very noticeable regression in her ability to read, spell at the appropriate level, or comprehend information. She is 💯 addicted to electronics and I blame the fact that her entire public school education is happening on a screen. My son has never used YouTube in his life because it has not been allowed in our household and since his homework is on the Chromebook he is constantly on YouTube. I believe that he spends more time on the internet than doing his homework and because his work is on the computer I cannot take it away from him. I have also seen alcohol adds on his Chromebook while he is doing schoolwork. I would love for there to be less homework on the Chromebook’s going forward. I am the parent of a child with ADHD, and also a pediatric speech-language pathologist for a major medical center. The research is staunchly against use of technology, both educational and recreational, at the level that we are currently seeing. The impact on a child’s academic development, sensory regulation, and all aspects of attention and executive functioning are being negatively impacted as technology use increases. There are SO. MANY. MORE. It’s time we make a change. Sign the Petition to add your voice.
