Fed-up parents who want less screen time in school may find allies in their children’s teachers.
About 73% of US teachers strongly or somewhat support setting a maximum amount of time that students can spend on school-issued devices during the school day, according to a survey released on Sept 16 by Gallup, the Walton Family Foundation and the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, a research lab at Sesame Workshop.
And six in 10 teachers believe students should spend less time on laptops and tablets during school hours.
But teachers were less clear on how to do that, now that devices are used for everything from testing to textbooks.
About 54% of teachers said that at least part of their school’s curriculum could not be taught without devices. And in middle and high school, most teachers said it would be “very” or “somewhat difficult” to coordinate a daily time limit across multiple classes.
School districts across the country are facing a mounting backlash to the technology, led by parents. The nation’s two largest school districts, New York and Los Angeles, started this school year with new restrictions on student screen time and artificial intelligence.
The survey, which polled 2,100 teachers working in kindergarten through 12th grade in public schools in May, found that student device time – and the distractions that come with it – were less pervasive for younger students.
In elementary school, students spent an estimated 27% of their class time on devices for instruction or other permitted, noninstructional tasks, according to teachers. Relatively few elementary teachers reported that devices were a major or moderate distraction.
But in middle and high school, students spent nearly half of class time on devices for instruction or permitted, noninstructional tasks. Students also spent an additional 10% of class time on off-task, unapproved activities, according to the survey.
The extra, off-task time can quickly add up and “is a lot of what’s driving parents to push back on technology in the classroom,” said Medha Tare, senior director of research at the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, which is focused on digital media that can improve students’ lives and well-being.
Idle device time is, in some cases, replacing time students might have spent reading a book, doodling or chatting with friends, she said.
Four in 10 middle school teachers and five in 10 high school teachers reported that devices were a major to moderate distraction, with students often finding workarounds to school web blockers.
Still, teachers saw the benefits of technology, particularly for students who are learning English, students with disabilities or advanced students who need more challenging material.
Overall, teachers were split on whether technology is overall more helpful or harmful, with 52% saying student laptops and tablets in school cause “equal amounts of harm and good.” High school teachers were the most negative, with a third saying devices in school do “more harm than good.”
Even more than blanket time limits, teachers wanted more oversight over student devices and options to use technology more purposefully, the survey found.
Teachers who had “a lot of oversight” over student devices were the least likely to report student distraction and the most likely to say that technology helps students learn. About three in four teachers said that they could view student screens remotely, and about two in three said they could lock student screens remotely.
A vast majority of teachers supported stronger filtering for student devices, and many wanted clearer direction about the learning goals of various technologies.
More than 90% of teachers supported investing in more printed materials so teaching on computers was not their only option. – ©2026 The New York Times Company
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
