Remove Routine iPad Use from K-2 Classrooms at South School
The Issue
We are asking the Glencoe school district to reconsider the use of iPads for our youngest learners and to remove routine, individual iPad use from K-2 students at South School.
This petition is not anti-technology. It is pro-childhood, pro-learning, and pro-teacher. Technology may have a place in education, especially when used sparingly and with clear purpose. But five, six, and seven year-olds do not need individual school-issued devices as part of their daily learning environment.
The early elementary years are foundational. Children are learning how to read, write, focus, listen, solve problems, regulate emotions, build friendships, use their hands, and engage deeply with the world around them. These are not skills best developed through a screen.
Many parents are working hard to limit screen time at home and protect childhood. It is deeply concerning when the school day normalizes daily device use at the very age when children most need human interaction, tactile learning, sustained attention, movement, and play.
The research is clear: more classroom technology has not reliably produced better learning outcomes, especially for young children. UNESCO has warned that education technology should be used with moderation and purpose, not as a default. Experts including Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath and Jonathan Haidt have raised serious concerns about the academic, social, emotional, and developmental costs of too much screen exposure too early.
We urge the South School administration to eliminate routine individual iPad use for K-2 students. Instead, we can allocate resources toward methods and materials that have proven benefits for early childhood education, such as smaller class sizes, materials for interactive play, and enhanced teacher training for traditional methods.
This is a reasonable, research-backed request. It is also a deeply human one.
Our children are only little once. Kindergarten through second grade should be a time to build strong minds, strong bodies, strong friendships, and a lifelong love of learning. We should not center these formative years around screens.
Please sign this petition if you believe K-2 students at South School deserve a learning environment centered on teachers, books, paper, play, handwriting, conversation, and hands-on discovery, not daily iPad use.
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The Issue
We are asking the Glencoe school district to reconsider the use of iPads for our youngest learners and to remove routine, individual iPad use from K-2 students at South School.
This petition is not anti-technology. It is pro-childhood, pro-learning, and pro-teacher. Technology may have a place in education, especially when used sparingly and with clear purpose. But five, six, and seven year-olds do not need individual school-issued devices as part of their daily learning environment.
The early elementary years are foundational. Children are learning how to read, write, focus, listen, solve problems, regulate emotions, build friendships, use their hands, and engage deeply with the world around them. These are not skills best developed through a screen.
Many parents are working hard to limit screen time at home and protect childhood. It is deeply concerning when the school day normalizes daily device use at the very age when children most need human interaction, tactile learning, sustained attention, movement, and play.
The research is clear: more classroom technology has not reliably produced better learning outcomes, especially for young children. UNESCO has warned that education technology should be used with moderation and purpose, not as a default. Experts including Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath and Jonathan Haidt have raised serious concerns about the academic, social, emotional, and developmental costs of too much screen exposure too early.
We urge the South School administration to eliminate routine individual iPad use for K-2 students. Instead, we can allocate resources toward methods and materials that have proven benefits for early childhood education, such as smaller class sizes, materials for interactive play, and enhanced teacher training for traditional methods.
This is a reasonable, research-backed request. It is also a deeply human one.
Our children are only little once. Kindergarten through second grade should be a time to build strong minds, strong bodies, strong friendships, and a lifelong love of learning. We should not center these formative years around screens.
Please sign this petition if you believe K-2 students at South School deserve a learning environment centered on teachers, books, paper, play, handwriting, conversation, and hands-on discovery, not daily iPad use.
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Petition created on June 25, 2026