Your Kids Are Not 'Taking Notes'

If you think most American kids collapse on the couch with their phones after a school day without their devices, you might be surprised by what the elementary classroom looks like these days. School might be your kids’ most structured hours, but that time is not always spent in debate, experiment, or intellectual wonder. Instead, they slouch, fidget, and, whenever they can, take a pass at that sweet, blue light. 

For the sake of keeping up with the times, schools everywhere have fully capitulated to the demand that classrooms grow ever more digital. Reparations for the digital divide often mean that getting computers into classrooms is treated as a moral imperative. The COVID-19 pandemic validated many concerns about the lack of access to resources necessary to keep apace their schooling. But we’ve known for a while that, under normal circumstances, the impact of implanting tech in the schoolhouse, as simple as swapping a notepad for an iPad, is a change rendering negative results. Without a doubt, the research says, “The pen is mightier than the keyboard.”

Permitting devices in classrooms for notetaking was, for my generation, the first serious application of tech to our education. But even for this purpose, digital devices hinder rather than help. In the best case, taking notes digitally means students take more notes. Many studies show, though, that lengthiness actually hurts retention rates and reduces interaction with the material, as students directly copy the text from presentation slides, as opposed to digesting a lesson and putting it in their own words. Hand cramps and smudging ink teach students to express themselves economically and involve all of their senses in their learning.

Despite their capabilities as powerhouses for research and as tools for extensive building and design, larger devices such as laptops and iPads are generally used the same in classrooms as smartphones: to text, scroll on social media, and play games, if kids can get away with it. Computers are not just overpriced spiral notebooks ($0.75) or large phones ($700) but are built for cutting-edge projects. They are an unnecessary expense for almost all classrooms—and a very expensive vehicle for passing notes to friends during class.

For unspecified reasons, computers are not getting mentioned in conversations about classroom digital disruptions. School administrators agree that cellphone use should be more tightly restricted in class for reasons ranging from behavioral issues and bullying, to material retention and test scores. Even five years ago, Pew found that 95% of U.S teens have access to a smartphone and 45% are “almost constantly” on the internet, even through the school day. If teens are spending over 8 hours a day on social media, they aren’t scrolling through their feeds just at meals and for an after-school break. If young people are pressured to get online even in the classroom, how are they to battle the addiction off campus?

If we are making war on smartphones for the sake of education, the potential harms of laptops and iPads should not be overlooked. Organizations in the education sector ought to consider how much computer time is used for work, and work demanding a super-computer at that. Parents should know which sites their children are visiting during school hours, and, as daytime guardians, teachers have a right to this information as well. In my experience, trips to the computer lab in grade school looked like digital coloring pages and Club Penguin—even though we had graduated from crayons and free playtime at least a few years earlier. These days, kids are unlikely to pass time peacefully on click-and-fill painting sites and instead browse Snapchat, Instagram, or TikTok.

First, parents and educators need to know what sites students are visiting and block social media on campuses. On May 9, 2023, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill banning use of social media on the school internet—and the use of TikTok for school purposes, ever—and instructing teachers to hold devices in a designated area. These are impressive steps for school safety.

Second, we need to minimize the presence of devices on campus altogether. We can find vehicles for teaching and communication that aren’t as destructive for student well-being and only introduce devices when students are ready to use them correctly. 

Third, we can be the bad guys in youths’ eyes. School lessons don’t need to be “cringe-tested,” and we don’t need to push social media on young kids as a tool “for good.” These are among the objectives of a dominating tech-education organization, The Social Institute, which was founded by a past social media manager for Disney, espnW, and Nike. The institute’s testimonial page, topped by Melinda Gates (who applauds the institute for not “setting new rules for [students] to follow”) and a 9th grader, reflects the disordered state of school authority. Fourteen-year-olds don’t need a soapbox and personal brand. They need good novels, handwritten schoolwork, and a soccer ball.

Elizabeth Self is the Outreach Coordinator for the Institute for Family Studies.