Abby McCloskey, Dallas Morning News, August 25, 2024

“As a writer, the problem of children and screen time is the gift that keeps giving columns. As a mother of three school-age kids, I find it exhausting.

Understanding and monitoring screen use in public schools feels like a game of Whac-A-Mole. It’s smartphones. It’s smartwatches. It’s universal iPads in kinder. It’s personal Chromebooks for third grade.

School is in full swing and my elementary school child brought home a “Chromebook contract.” I was struck about how one-way it felt. Where was the second page stapled onto the first that had a similar contract from the teacher, school and district? Accountability and trust with kids’ use of technology needs to run both ways. Especially when the research is piling up about the harm of screen overuse at home but also in the classroom.

In my column, I write about what a more two-way contract from the school could look like....