Note: Please sign only if you are a current or incoming D25 parent, guardian or care-giver.

To:  Arlington Heights School District 25 Board and Administration

Core to our beliefs is that learning requires effort, focus and time - not shortcuts.  We believe human connection, conversation, and play matter more than screen time.  We believe that technology has a place in education, but it should never replace real teaching.

We are concerned with technology use in D25.  Students are required to use district-issued devices far too often throughout the school day - measured in hours, especially when the device is a Chromebook.   The district has 191 approved EdTech products, yet has no meaningful way to measure how much screen time students are actually accumulating.  We are asking for screen use to be measured, capped and for all EdTech products to be re-evaluated for their learning purpose and effectiveness.  

Research is clear: reading comprehension is worse on screens than on paper.  Handwritten notes produce better recall and more durable learning than typed ones.  Handwriting builds fine motor skills linked to stronger reading development. Most EdTech products - particularly those involving passive consumption - are not educationally beneficial. They are marketed as engagement tools when in fact, they are engineered for addiction, producing learning that is slower, shallower and less durable. Screen overuse leads to lower academic achievement, attention and focus issues, cognitive decline, increased anxiety, vision problems, and delays in executive functioning.

These devices are also not safe.  Students are exposed to inappropriate content through YouTube, sidebar ads and the screens of distracted classmates.  Games - some containing highly inappropriate content - are a constant distraction.  The district can block a game one week only for a new link-based version to appear the next.   We do not blame the teachers - their job is to teach, not police device compliance.  We do not blame the children.  Handing adolescents with limited impulse control an iPad or a Chromebook  and expecting them to use it only as intended is naive. Tech companies collect children’s data for profit.  If the district cannot protect students from unsafe content and data harvesting, these devices should not be required. 

We want:

Teachers to deliver lessons - not play YouTube videos

Students to read to their teachers - not to AI chatbots

Research done with printed materials - not across multiple apps

Notes taken by hand on paper - not in Google Docs

First drafts written on paper - not auto-corrected in Google Docs

Flashcards for recall - not gamified badge-and-points apps

Devices stored in carts or labs - not sitting on students' desks

Students to use effort - not AI

We welcome technology education  - STEM, coding, digital art.   We support purposeful technology for students with IEPs and 504 plans.   But we did not agree to education through technology.

We are asking the  District 25 Board and Administration to:

1) Pause all adoptions and implementations of new EdTech and generative AI tools.

2) Re-evaluate all existing EdTech  - does it have a clear learning goal that couldn't be achieved without it? Is it research-backed? Does it focus on active creation or passive engagement? Has staff been properly trained?  Is it safe for student data and content exposure?

3) Track and cap screen use across all grades, with quarterly reports to parents including data on websites visited.  A strong starting point: no more than one hour of non-essential screen use per day.

4) Restore and protect offline learning - handwriting, printed homework, paper drafts and live instruction must remain central to education in D25. 

Adolescence only happens once.  Please sign today to help ensure our children's education is not sacrificed to an EdTech experiment.  

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