to the editor: It's essential to take a close look at screen time at school. Equally important is examining screen usage. It is very easy to create a complete ban on screen time for transitional kindergarteners, kindergarteners, and first graders (“Under LAUSD’s draft plan, screens would be banned through second grade.” May 20). What also needs to be examined and allowed is focused and purposeful use of the screen.
I am a retired high school biology, chemistry, and computer science teacher from the Los Angeles Unified School District, and an educational technology facilitator for the district. I currently volunteer once a week at a local school's STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) lab. In that lab, I have assisted the STEAM teacher as first grade students create stop-motion animation videos on topics they study, develop basic computer programming skills, and control wireless robots using tablet-based computers.
Before outright bans on “screen time” are put in place, careful exclusion should be seriously considered: a maximum of half an hour a week, for example. That would promote schools' continued monitored and targeted efforts dedicated to providing hands-on STEAM education and growth mindsets to all students, as emphasized in the current Common Core curriculum.
Bruce Gurnick, Porter Ranch
