A worried Oklahoma parent raised concerns with school authorities after discovering that his son watched as many as 120 YouTube videos in the classroom in just four days.
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son → raise → days
Jeff Howard, whose son goes to a public K-12 school in the Carl Albert district of Oklahoma City's metro area, attended a school board meeting on October 12 and railed against the overuse of screens in the school.
The concerned father said that when he met with his son’s teachers during a parent-teacher conference at the Carl Albert Middle School last week, he discovered his son was allowed to use YouTube and listen to music during free time.
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son → go → time
‘My son has watched 120 videos from Monday through Thursday, and I checked the time code, and they were all during school hours,' the Mid-Del parent told the board.
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parent → watch → hours
The father said that the son was hooked on watching YouTube videos and was using it to solve his tests.
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son → say → tests
‘When one of the teachers was walking through my son's grades, he said, "Hey, look here.
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he → walk → grades
Your son got a 17 on this assignment.
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son → get → assignment
He spent six minutes on it and then he took it again and spent two minutes on it".
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he → spend → it
And I went, when I saw the 120 videos, I said, I know exactly what he's doing,’ Howard said.
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Howard → go → what
‘He wants to get it done so he can watch another YouTube video.
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he → want → video
He's a great kid, but he's addicted to screens,’ the father added.
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father → add → screens
After he approached teachers about the issue, the school looked into the matter and then limited his son to only music during free time.
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school → approach → time
Jeff Howard, whose son goes to a public Mid-Del school in the Carl Albert district atteneded a board meeting where he raised the topic of screen time in school
He told the board that he is worried because he found out that his son was watching over 120 videos on YouTube during his free time in school.
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son → go → school
The father said he doesn't allow his kids to use the platform unless supervised
Howard told Mid-Del Public Schools Board of Education that his son is not allowed to go on YouTube at home unless it's supervised.
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it → say → home
He said that he is aware that kids are not allowed to use personal phones because of the bell-to-bell law that bans students from using smartphones, smartwatches and tablets from the morning opening bell until the final dismissal bell of the school day, but there are exceptions like the Chromebook.
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that → say → Chromebook
‘I understand that they've banned Libby.
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they → understand → Libby
I know that they've banned Scratch.
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they → know → Scratch
So, if they can ban those two, they can ban YouTube.
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they → ban → YouTube
So, I would really appreciate it if you guys can turn that off,’ Howard added.
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Howard → appreciate → that
Mid-Del Public Schools District, located east of Oklahoma City, serves 13,000 students in 21 school sites.
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District → locate → sites
It includes three high schools, three middle schools, 13 elementary schools/centers.
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It → include → schools
Dr Rick Cobb, who has served as the Mid-Del Public Schools Superintendent since 2015, told KOCO news that the topic raised by Howard during the meeting is a significant topic for discussion.
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topic → serve → discussion
‘I was just taking mental note of what he said because I think it's an important conversation for us to have,’ Cobb said.
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Cobb → take → what
He added that the conversation needs to be about how much screen time should be allowed for kids and not whether technology is appropriate in schools.
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technology → add → schools
‘When our legislature talks about screen time being appropriate for students, I think there's a break in the conversation between screen time associated with instruction and free time when students are done with their work,’ the superintendent said.
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superintendent → talk → work
Cobb was talking about the February legislative session where House Bill 4358 was introduced.
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Bill → talk → session
The bill mandated limits on screen time for students in grades pre-K-5 to one hour per school day.
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bill → mandate → day
The bill passed the Oklahoma House of Representatives with a 95-0 vote but did not pass the Senate.
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bill → pass → Senate
Dr Rick Cobb, who is the Mid-Del Schools Superintendent, told KOCO news that it is a significant topic for discussion.
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it → tell → discussion
He added that there should be a serious discussion about how much screen time should be allowed for kids in school
Cobb mentioned the February legislative session where House Bill 4358 was introduced that mandated limits on screen time for students.
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that → add → students
He said that teachers should not use the screen time policy to incentivize students to finish schoolwork early
Cobb told the outlet that he expects that the topic will be raised again in the next session.
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topic → say → session
‘I've been talking with other superintendents, and we know that's going to be one of the first topics out of the gate that they're addressing when the session starts in February,’ he told the outlet.
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he → talk → outlet
He added that while screen time is allowed at schools, teachers should not use it as an incentive to finish schoolwork early.
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teachers → add → schoolwork
‘We don't want to incentivize students finishing their work fast rather than done well, so I think it's an important conversation for us to have,’ he said.
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he → want → work
The Los Angeles Unified School District was the first major American school that banned use of laptops and tablets in class this year, NBC News reported in April.
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News → ban → April
The resolution had passed with 6-0 votes.
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resolution → pass → votes
Parents told the outlet that their children’s grades had gone down because they were distracted by online video games in class, watching YouTube and scrolling through social media and internet forums.
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they → tell → media
A Pew Research Center survey of US parents revealed that nine-in-ten parents of kids ages 12 and younger said that their kid ever watches TV.
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kid → reveal → TV
Sixty-eight percent said they use a tablet and 61 percent said they use a smartphone.
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they → say → smartphone
The research also stated that AI is a big part of this mix.
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AI → state → mix
The Daily Mail has reached out to the Mid-Del schools for comment.
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Mail → reach → comment
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