Chromebooks Shouldn’t Have a Place in Schools
Have you ever wondered how Chromebooks have become a part of public schools? It
used to never be that way; at some point, it was highly discouraged. We see people on their
phones at the grocery stores, at malls, while driving, and at restaurants. Humans look like those
aliens we have seen in movies nowadays, always zoned out on a rectangular block. Exposing
children and teenagers to constant electronic usage is not healthy, and adding Chromebooks to
this pile does not help. These devices should be removed from public schools and revert to the
traditional method of teaching and homework. Using Chromebooks for education encourages
distraction as well as excessive screentime, which links with mental health issues, and
discourages both children and teenagers to learn basic skills.
How did Chromebooks make it into schools? This one shocks many! When the idea of
Chromebooks came up, and there was debate on whether or not to bring them into public
schools, many parents were strongly opposed to that idea. They wanted their children to learn the
traditional way. So, you may be asking, then how did Chromebooks get into schools? Believe it
or not, it was all political. Tech companies and entrepreneurs saw a chance to make a huge
amount of money! Introducing these things to schools as well as charging annual licensing fees
for educational software sounded too good to be true! (Glow Kids; Nicholas Kardaras, PhD)
Technology companies brought it into classrooms, not looking into the problems they may cause
to people, but by greed, corruption, incompetence, ego, and much more. If you do not have any
sort of knowledge as a teacher or what screen time may do to a person, it its promoted, there
should be no say on your part to even suggest the idea of any such devices in schools. It is
absolutely foul! Why didn’t principals or superintendents step in? That is highly disappointing.
According to Glow Kids- How Screen Addiction is Hijacking Our Kids And How to Break the
Trance, the people who actually knew better (Principals and Superintendents), that education
can’t be fixed with technology, stayed quiet to save their careers (Nicholas Kardaras, PhD). If
anything, I believe those are the ones that should have stood up and spoken against it. Instead, it
was the families of the children attending schools. As an educator, it seems that the children's
being and the risks of putting electronic devices in schools should have come first. It is pretty
common knowledge that a lot of screen time is not good, and it should have stayed discouraged,
especially in schools. A highly educated man by the name of Joel Klein, who has many degrees,
including being a Harvard-educated lawyer, Assistant Attorney General of the Antitrust Division,
school chancellor, AND has taught in a classroom, was the leading voice of “transforming” our
education system with technology. It would seem that he would think better than to do that, but
apparently not! Joel was driven by greed. He spent 95 million tax dollars on tech and came up
with the achievement reporting system. This system was criticised for being slow, “clunky,” and
underutilised. He was awarded 12 million dollars yearly to fix his “clunker” and maintain it.
(Glow Kids, Nicholas Kardaras, PhD) That is crazy! Money truly does change a man. This is
only one example out of many!
With the Chromebooks being in school, it promotes excessive screen time. Having
excessive screen time also affects the mental health of people. Having more than 2 hours of
screen time a day negatively impacts your mental health. It is highly encouraged to keep your
screentime to 2 hours or under a day. In these public schools, especially middle and high schools,
there is constant Chromebook usage. Typically, more than 2 hours, and that’s just in school. It
doesn’t include the time you spend on the Chromebook outside of class, as well as on your own
devices. Due to the amount of time being spent on a screen, it causes problems with your health
overall, whether it be your sleep or how you think (positively or negatively). According to The
National Library of Medicine, “…excessive screen time can impact sleep, leading to sleep
deprivation, which has been linked to depression and other mood disorders.” (Khumukcham A
Devi et al.) For myself, I noticed that if I spend time on my electronics before bed, my mind
starts racing and doesn’t settle down quickly at all. Although my body is tired and my eyes are
drooping, I find it extremely difficult to go to bed, even if my brain was just being challenged by
homework. With the amount of stuff I am given to do outside of school on my Chromebook, and
also spending time on my phone, electronics take up most of my days. This takes a toll on my
mental and physical health, as I’m sure it does the same for many others as well. The physical
problems that excessive screen time causes are eye strain, neck/shoulder pain, and back pain,
while the mental health issues it may cause are increased levels of depression, anxiety, and other
mood disorders. (Khumukcham A Devi et al.)
Aside from the mental health issues and distraction that chorebooks encourage, they also
take away from children's learning basic skills. In elementary school, the teachers teach kids how
to write. However, as we get older, there is not much need for writing with a pen and paper. We
do need to know how to spell somewhat(there is autocorrect, though), but writing on paper is not
something used as much as it used to be. I noticed a lot of my friends have pretty sloppy
handwriting, since it's not something practised often in the classroom. Outside of school, we
need to know how to write and to write well enough so it's readable. Take writing a check as an
example; you can not do that digitally. To some, due to Chromebooks/electronics and not
normalising writing physically, this could be extremely challenging. Cursive is not being taught
in public schools anymore. It is not a requirement. That is so sad! How are kids supposed to learn
how to sign their names? Cursive is required for signatures, which are often used as you get
older. I guarantee you, the majority of people won’t try to learn cursive if they don’t have to.
Schools held many accountable in that aspect until it was no longer a requirement.
Do electronics raise dopamine levels? Nicholas Kardaras, a psychologist, mentions that
it is proven that games that kids play in school raise dopamine levels to the same level as
someone having sex. That is NOT okay. Dopamine level should not shoot up that high from such
innocent and “educational” games. It's the anticipation of these electronics. It's not specifically
from the games themselves; that is just an example. Staring at these glowing things really catches
our eyes. It’s very much addictive. Staring at them or doing stuff on these devices, whether
educational or not, touches something in our brain that gives that dopamine rush. According to
The Dopamine Cycle: Impacts of Excessive Screen Time, repeating stimulations from screens
cause the “neurological pathways to become overused and desensitised.” Eventually, to get a
dopamine rush, more stimulation is needed, which is why children tend to get frustrated when
you limit their screen time.
Chromebooks do allow students to communicate with teachers outside of class if they
have a question on an assignment, and vice versa. It is also a cheap and budget-friendly option
for schools, according to Anick Jesdanun, a technology journalist. There is also easier access to
information. The amount of information that is being delivered to children through electronics
can be very overwhelming to their brains. Although in some cases it may come off as cheap for
schools, the whole operation was not. As mentioned previously, 95 million tax dollars were used
to simply create a system. And tax dollars do go to schools as well. This may seem like a more
budget-friendly option, but remember who is paying for it.
Due to all the issues electronic devices cause, schools need to reconsider their choice of
allowing electronic devices, specifically Chromebooks, into schools. Taking account of the
mental, physical, and emotional problems these devices cause would be the best thing school
systems could do. To all the schools out there and the parents concerned, try to step forward and remove this system.
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