South Carolina wants $17.6 million to teach students about screen time dangers

A year after banning cell phones in schools, the S.C. Department of Education wants to expand its push against technology overuse by funding screen-time lessons for elementary and middle school students. The department is also launching a statewide teacher survey on how classroom devices are being used.

FULL STORY: New statewide initiatives for SC schools look to limit students’ screen time

Here are key takeaways:

• The department is requesting $17.6 million from the S.C. Legislature to educate third-through eighth-graders about the impact of smartphones, screens and social media on their mental health, relationships, development and grades.

• The department plans to purchase materials from Families Managing Media Inc., a nonprofit also operating as “ScreenStrong,” for roughly 123,977 elementary and 179,204 middle school students.

• State Superintendent Ellen Weaver told senators the state needs to understand how much time and money districts spend on classroom devices.

• A new teacher survey launching this spring will assess how instructional technology is used in classrooms, building on a similar survey that preceded the state’s cell phone ban known as “Free to Focus.”

• State Sen. Wes Climer, R-York, said the Legislature may need to “take the lead on unwinding the widespread adoption of technology that is durably pernicious to young minds.”

The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The full story in the link at top was reported, written and edited entirely by journalists.