A Shared Standard for Classroom Technology in Virginia

A campaign from Virginia Coalition for Intentional Tech

Sign This Campaign

1
Signatures
1 of 1000 signatures
0% to goal
Every action matters

You may receive email updates about this campaign from Virginia Coalition for Intentional Tech

Recent supporters:
Parent signed 1 day ago

Why This Matters

Families in 10 Virginia school divisions have already asked their local school boards for the 8 changes below, and more than 4,000 people have signed. Now we’re asking the state to set one standard for every Virginia student, and lawmakers take this up in January.

You don’t need a kid in school to sign! Any Virginia resident can add their name, including grandparents, teachers, and neighbors. When you sign, your delegate and state senator will see how many people in their district agree.

It takes about a minute. Once you’ve signed, text it to three friends in Virginia!

 
Dear Members of the Virginia Board of Education and Members of the Virginia General Assembly,
We are Virginia parents, educators, grandparents, and community members, and we want what you want: kids who are healthy and ready to learn. We’re not anti-tech. We’re pro-childhood and pro-learning. Technology belongs in classrooms when it serves a clear learning goal and fits a child’s age. A balanced school day also leaves room for play, hands-on learning, and the kind of independence that builds real confidence. Thank you for the steps Virginia has already taken on student screen use. We’re writing to ask you to build on them, with Virginia community members as your partners.
Teens spend nearly nine hours a day on entertainment screens outside of schoolwork, according to Common Sense Media, and the American Academy of Pediatrics links excessive screen time to anxiety, depression, shorter attention spans, and lower achievement. School can be where kids get a real break. Devices are now part of nearly every classroom, though, and guidance on using them well hasn’t kept pace. None of this is simple. Schools and families are working through it with the same limited roadmap, and teachers deserve clear statewide backing. Virginia has already shown what a statewide standard can do with bell-to-bell phone restrictions, and some divisions have set their own screen-time limits. What’s still missing is a shared standard for the devices schools hand out, so a child’s screen time at school doesn’t depend on where they live. Utah, Iowa, and Tennessee all passed classroom technology laws in 2026, and in April 2026 Los Angeles Unified, the second-largest district in the country, voted unanimously to reduce and limit classroom screen use. Virginia is well placed to do the same.
What we hope to see
We hope the General Assembly will direct the Board of Education to develop a statewide model policy on the intentional use of instructional technology, and require every school division to adopt a policy that includes the following:
  1. Keep the youngest classrooms hands-on. Remove digital devices from preschool through 2nd grade classrooms, except where required for mandated assessments or a student’s IEP or 504 plan. At this age, children learn best through hands-on, in-person experiences with their teachers and classmates. Hands-on early grades also support Virginia’s goal of every child reading on grade level by third grade.
  2. Set specific, enforceable screen time limits by grade level. Establish clear daily and weekly maximums for student screen use on school-issued devices, with less screen time for younger students. Screens should be used when they add learning value that can’t be matched offline.
  3. Reduce 1:1 device programs in elementary school. Transition to shared laptop carts and computer labs for grades 3-5, so students still build technology skills at the times it helps most. There’s little evidence that assigning every young child their own device helps them learn, and it contributes to excessive cumulative screen exposure.
  4. Block non-educational platforms on school-issued devices. Block student access to YouTube, social media, and non-instructional gaming platforms like Roblox during the school day. Divisions handle the blocking, so teachers aren’t left policing devices, and teachers may retain the ability to use appropriate video content for instruction.
  5. Keep unstructured time screen-free. No device use during passing periods, lunch, and recess for elementary and middle school students. These are the moments when kids play, make friends, and learn to work things out with each other.
  6. Provide parents with transparency and meaningful opt-out rights. Regularly share reports on children’s screen activity on school-issued devices. Let families opt out of specific EdTech programs, not just sign a blanket consent form. The division provides the alternative, so it isn’t one more thing teachers build from scratch, and no student is penalized when a parent opts out. When families know what their kids are doing at school, they can support it at home.
  7. Encourage paper, physical textbooks, and off-screen homework. Research shows students tend to understand and remember more of what they read in print. Policies should actively encourage analog options, especially for homework in elementary and middle school. Paper homework also gives parents an easy way to see what their kids are learning and help.
  8. Evaluate all EdTech contracts for educational value and student data privacy. Require independent review of EdTech products rather than relying only on vendor-supplied research. Protect student data, and build accountability measures into every contract. This helps divisions put their budgets toward the tools that actually work for kids. Ideally, VDOE would get added review staff so smaller divisions aren’t left doing this alone.
We’re signing because we care about the kids in our lives, whether they’re our own children, our grandchildren, our students, or the kids down the street. They only get one childhood, and every school year without clear guidance is one they don’t get back. We’re asking you to act this session, and to do it in a way that makes teachers’ jobs easier, not harder. Thank you for all you do for Virginia’s students. We look forward to working alongside you to protect their health, development, and academic success.
Sincerely, The undersigned

Recent Supporters

  • Parent

    Signed in Richmond, VA

    1 day ago
1 supporters have signed this campaign

Share This Campaign

*Separate multiple emails with commas

Need to share on your social networks or via text? Copy this link and paste it into your message.
QR Code for Campaign: A Shared Standard for Classroom Technology in Virginia