OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – A group of Westside Community Schools parents is calling on the district to scale back student device use, saying too much screen time in the classroom is contributing to behavior problems and declining academic performance.
The parent-led group, Pencils Before Pixels, formed after families began raising concerns following the last school year. Mandi Dilling, whose daughter completed kindergarten at Westside, said she and other parents noticed problems tied to iPad use.
“Several kids’ parents said, my kid is having nightmares based on what they’re watching on the iPad,” Dilling said. “Several parents also started to say, I think they’re spending too much time on the iPads, I don’t think there’s restrictions.”
Group forms, takes concerns to the board
Parent Paul Vonderfecht co-founded Pencils Before Pixels in response. He hired a statistician to build and gather data for the group’s website, which claims devices are a driving factor in declining math and English scores across every state…