What the AAP says about smartwatches at school -- and how you can help

Thank you for signing and sharing this petition. In just a few days, we are approaching our first 100 signatures and making support for this narrow smartwatch clarification more visible.

We also want to share what we are doing to better understand the district’s decision.

On September 3, we submitted a Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) request for records concerning the district’s personal-device policy and smartwatch restrictions. We have now received 1,116 pages, and our review is ongoing.

One relevant resource included in the records is the American Academy of Pediatrics’ educator guidance, Reducing Distractions from Smartwatches in Elementary Schools.

The AAP advises:

“Set up your child’s smartwatch to have do-not-disturb settings during school hours.”

The resource also recommends limiting distracting functions and provides instructions for Apple Schooltime, including how parents can review temporary exits. It acknowledges that research on smartwatch distractions in schools is limited.

We believe this guidance gives SVVSD a practical approach to evaluate: allowing qualifying watches to remain worn with restricted functions, clear parent responsibilities, and consequences for misuse.

Our request remains straightforward. Keep PK–8 classrooms phone-free. Allow a qualifying smartwatch to remain on the wrist in School Mode, with ordinary school-day use limited to checking the time. That preserves the family’s before-and-after-school routine while maintaining clear boundaries during school.

Copies of the records received to date are available upon request at Braun@BraunMincher.com. We will share additional findings as our review progresses.

Please take one more step today: share this petition with two other parents who may care about this issue. A personal message explaining why you signed can help someone else understand the request.

Please also save Wednesday, September 23, at 6:00 p.m. for the next regular Board of Education meeting in Longmont. We will share more participation details in our next update. If you already want to speak, the district’s public-comment information and advance signup link are available here.

Thank you for helping turn individual concerns into a shared, constructive request.

Braun Mincher