ABCs of Classrooms at Risk: DON’T just #OPTOUT
What are we doing to our kids?
Cancer doesn’t care if you are Democrat or Republican. The dollars invested in the edtech industry don’t care if your child is Democrat or Republican either. Why then do we let this broken two party system divide us when it comes to education and doing what is best for our children? Put children’s health and safety first. Always.
A is for always protect kids and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
We know, despite campaigns from the tobacco industry that said otherwise, smoking cigarettes does have a direct link to causing cancer. The sugar industry certainly has helped to prove the point recently, that data can be manipulated and studies and media can be bought. So now, ask yourself this, remember those warnings from pediatricians about too much TV and limited screen time?According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), 2015, kids were astonishingly spending 7 hours a day on “entertainment” media.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released these guidelines for children and adolescents using media, recommending no more than two hours per day of any type of entertainment screen time for kids ages 3 to 18 and none for children 2 or younger. The guidelines cover media such as Internet and texting as well as TV, movies and video games.- Reported March 2014, Washington Post
How come we aren’t limiting screen time in school?
Instead, the federal government and the broadband industry are teaming up to bring Wi-Fi connectivity (via the FCC’s Lifeline) to all communities and schools. The White House is also promoting classroom connectivity, 1:1 computers, chromebooks, or ipads for each child. ESSA has freed up Billions of dollars to spend on expanding technology use in the classroom. That’s MILLIONS of classrooms full of screens, Wi-Fi, online curriculum, online assessments and student data all bundled together for and by the industry. The federal government is actually giving grants for every textbook you replace with their “free” online curriculum.
B is for Billions of dollars.
Interestingly, there is now research proving that screen time is addictive, showing dopamine receptors in our brains react to screens equally as strong as receptors react to cocaine addiction. Glow Kids author explains in TIME Magazine that screens in schools, edtech is a $60 Billion Hoax that is harming children. We don’t see that posted on the US Dept of Ed or State Dept of Ed websites. Nor do we see the studies that show memory retention, scores on tests, academic performance are actually worse on screens. But we do see the federal government investing millions more into technology and data collection.
C is for Cancer.
The Big (C).