Within Evanston-Skokie District 65, every student is equipped with a device for learning, whether that’s a laptop or an iPad. A number of parents, though, are questioning the district’s technology protocol.
Parents are expressing concern that their children are experiencing a curriculum that is gamified and too reliant on technology, spending too much time on their devices during free time, and accessing inappropriate content too easily.
During recent disrict budget meetings addressing the district’s deficit, one of the most popular suggestions was less reliance on technology. Parents showed their support for instruction that focused more on participation and engagement and less on worksheets and iPads.
“This is something that our district is selling families to move here because we have a one-to-one ratio,” or one tech device per students, said district parent Annie Cacchione in an interview with the RoundTable. “But then every single curriculum went online, and every single learning tool became an app, and I don’t know what’s done without it now.”
A student interacts with their District 65-issued iPad. Credit: Kristen Granchalek
Cacchione is a therapist who has seen negative effects of tech on children and teenagers in both her practice and at home with her two daughters, who are in third grade and kindergarten, respectively, at District 65 schools.
The experience prompted Cacchione to become an advocate for safe tech usage. She recently began a local chapter of an initiative called Screen Sanity, which aims to equip parents with tools and information to raise happy and healthy children in an increasingly digital world.
Cacchione is just one of many parents with these questions and concerns, though. Screen Sanity is one of the organizations involved in Screen Sense Evanston, a coalition of parents focused on these issues.
The RoundTable spoke to several parents, both involved with the Screen Sense Evanston organization and not, to gather insight on how families are struggling with district-issued tech.
Instruction reliant on tech
Students in District 65 have a number of programs they access on their tech devices, whether iPads or computers, throughout the day. They can access textbooks, complete assignments, see instructional videos, and more. This can look different for different grades.
The devices can be useful said parent Kristen Granchalek, who has three kids, two of whom are grade-school students in District 65.
“I think it’s really actually good for individualized learning when kids are either way behind or way ahead,” she said. “My kids are pretty accelerated in math, for example, and so they have what’s called individualized pathways. So the teacher can teach a lesson, and then the kids do work and additional problems.”
Granchalek also appreciates how much she can learn about her kids’ instruction with tech, like how close they are to grade level, where they are advanced, and where they might need some work. Teachers keep her updated on these available metrics when she asks.
That’s the good. But then, there’s the bad.
“I think, though, that the primary way it is used is to keep kids occupied,” she said. “I think kids who are advanced hurry up and finish their work, and then the teachers allow them to use the technology so they don’t bother their classmates who are taking longer.”
“I don’t think it’s used in a way that really is promoting learning,” Granchalek continued. “I think it’s used in a way that makes school easier and behavior management easier.”
Miriam Kendall, another parent with whom RoundTable spoke, has similar concerns. Kendall is also part of Screen Sense Evanston, is in the PTA at Willard Elementary School and has two children (a first- and second-grader) old enough for District 65.
“I do not think that the district has provided any information about if there’s actually proven benefits to the learning that this is providing for their kids. Is there any research-backed data that this is actually good?” Kendall wondered.
Kendall also worries that the gamification of some of the tools students use doesn’t actually help them learn.
Too much free time on the tech
Kendall’s concerns aren’t just with tech used for instructional purposes, though. She and the other parents involved in Screen Sense Evanston have issues with the amount of school free time their students use on tech and question why there is so much.
On Fridays, one of her daughter’s classes has free time. Her daughter used to spend it on her iPad. Kendall asked the teachers to instead direct her toward other available entertainment items, such as toys and puzzles.
The teachers were receptive, Kendall said, and she figured other parents might want to know this.
“None of the other parents I reached out to realized that the kids were going on their iPads for an hour every Friday as part of Friday free time,” she said. “I think there’s a lack of transparency from the school to parents about how much the kids are on them and what they’re doing on them, because in a lot of cases, I do not think that the district knows or has a handle on it.”
In another classroom across town, Paul Lange’s son’s class had their laptops taken away during a different free time: indoor recess. Lange has two District 65 children, and his son is in fourth grade.
That fourth grade class was asked to play with the games on hand during days when it was too cold to go outside. Students complained, though, that there were not enough interesting toys and games, though.
The classroom invited students to recommend games they’d like to play and the district may acquire them, but according to Lange’s son, that’s been slow to happen.
All the parents interviewed also said they limit their children’s free time on devices at home, too. Lange lets his kids use devices at home for a half hour on weekdays and an hour on weekends, while Granchalek, Kendall and Cacchione do not let their kids use district-issued tech at home.
Accessing inappropriate content
Lange is worried about more than just screen time. He is concerned with the kinds of content his son can access on his laptop.
The district offers parents use of a program called Securely, which lets them see what students are doing and when. Just the other day, he saw that his son had started a YouTube video for Kendrick Lamar’s song “Element.”
“This music video was something [he] was able to access, and now I have to scramble to figure out how to block it,” Lange said. “This isn’t against Kendrick, or rap, but what I’m comfortable having a 9-year-old boy access.”
Lange has tried to adjust the security measures on his son’s computer, hoping to disable access to certain content. Once, though, it resulted in blocking some content his son needed at school. His son came home crying, because he could not participate in class.
Lange is not the only parent whose child ended up in a concerning space online.
“My daughter ended up on a cryptocurrency website,” Kendall said. “The district does not have this locked down whatsoever. They’re playing a game of Whack-a-Mole.”
In a situation at Nichols Middle School in January, teachers found out that students had been accessing open Zoom calls.
“Unfortunately, this has led to instances where students have entered meetings that are highly inappropriate, including Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings, Narcotics Anonymous (NA) meetings, and other adult-oriented spaces that are not suitable for children,” the school said in an email newsletter.
Even when content isn’t inappropriate for a student’s age, it might be inappropriate for class time. Cacchione recently discovered that her daughter was using a shared Google document to communicate with her friends at other schools.
“It starts innocent in that realm, but it’s inappropriate for school,” she said.
Tech equity
“Most of us who push back on tech are accused of being sort of inequitable,” Granchalek said.
“Tech equity” in the classroom means a level playing field for children who may not have reliable access to technology outside of school. Giving students access to school-issued technology enables equal access.
“Everyone needs to learn how to use tech responsibly, and some of us have greater access to that. But giving everyone an iPad for free with no limitations and no rules, that’s not really about equity. That’s just, frankly, being lazy,” Granchalek said.
Cacchione also explained that while giving every student tech access does promote equity, there then becomes potential inequities in management. If only some families are limiting usage, she said, some children might still be accessing content that is inappropriate.
“We have to understand that we’re all interconnected, and we all care about each other’s children and each other’s family’s futures. And so why not continue to get more people and more families involved?” Cacchione said. “As opposed to using equity as a conversation stopper, it’s the conversation starter.”
Addressing tech concerns
Kendall and Cacchione, concerned with their children’s tech health, have banded together to try and see those concerns addressed. Their efforts are multifold.
Part of their outreach includes Cacchione’s sharing of Screen Sanity resources. She wants to arm parents with more knowledge about how to safely introduce the digital sphere to their children.
Cacchione hopes to eventually hold meetings at District 65, but the district initially denied this request, citing the need to offer programming in both English and Spanish. For now, she’s working to host a presentation at a library or church basement.
The other part of these efforts involves bringing concerns directly to the district.
“I am very actively working to bring this issue to light in a bigger way with the district, with principals and teachers, and then also with school board candidates,” Kendall said.
The RoundTable reached out to District 65 for comment on the subject of tech usage but did not receive a response in time prior to publication.
Kendall and other parents also recently launched the Screen Sense Evanston webpage, which outlines their efforts. Part of their advocacy includes the Wait Until 8th pledge, an effort previously covered by the RoundTable that centers on not letting children have smartphones until they are in eighth grade.
Also on the webpage are District 65 School Board candidates’ answers to the Screen Sense Evanston’s surveys on the subject.
“This is the perfect time to be having this dialogue, as we’re about to get four new school board members that can help shape the future of how we want technology to look in the district,” Kendall said.
Kendall and Cacchione have also reached out to District 65 staff, including Stacy Beardsley, the district’s assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction. So far, Kendall said, Beardsley has been receptive to their concerns.
“The idea is not to divide,” Cacchione said. “The idea is to collaborate.”
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