FCC weighs overhaul of subsidies for classroom internet as Big Tech backlash grows

All that screen time in school may not be a good idea after all, and the Trump administration is weighing an overhaul of its decades-old program that pays for public school internet, which some children are using to watch porn in the classroom.

The review comes amid a nationwide backlash against excessive “screen time” and evidence that students have been lured by Big Tech to scroll non-educational content in the classroom.

The Federal Communications Commission announced it will examine “the surge in screen time” among students and the role the FCC has played in enabling it.

The FCC’s E-Rate program funds internet connectivity in public schools and libraries to the tune of about $2.5 billion annually. During the COVID-19 pandemic, federal funds were also available to pay for devices.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said the impact of online devices, now in the hands of children in nearly every U.S. public school, has been staggering: Students are losing up to 38 minutes every hour to “digital distractions.”

As screen time has risen among students, reading and math scores are plummeting, he said.

“We will take a top-to-bottom review of the program and ensure it is supporting the types of good educational outcomes that Congress had in mind when it started the program 30 years ago,” Mr. Carr said.

The FCC review comes as public schools have begun reversing years of pushing in-classroom internet use. Some schools have adopted outright bans on cellphones, which, teachers have come to learn, distract students during class time for years.

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The Los Angeles Unified School District last year started a “bell-to-bell” cellphone ban in all of its schools. In April, the school board added more restrictions to screen time, implementing weekly limits by grade and eliminating use of digital devices, such as the popular Google Chromebooks and tablets, from early education through first grade.

The policy, which starts in September, will also prohibit student access to YouTube and other video streaming platforms.

“This is really about recalibrating, resetting and reassessing our relationship with screens over the last five or six years,” L.A. Unified school board member Nick Melvoin said. “A child sitting in front of a screen for hours isn’t getting a better education simply because the content is online.”

The FCC review will also examine federal internet safety policies for schools and will seek public comment about revisions.

Parents and educators have wised up to the lure of social media platforms that are distracting students who bring phones into the classroom. In some cases, the phones expose students to inappropriate content.

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Big Tech, meanwhile, is working to find more ways to keep students engaged on social media while in school.

Their tactics are the target of a recent lawsuit filed by hundreds of school districts that could cost Big Tech companies billions of dollars.

Filed on behalf of half a dozen school districts, the lawsuit accused social media platforms, including Meta, which operates Facebook and Instagram, and Google, which operates YouTube, of scheming to ensure students are addicted to their platforms through programs such as YouTube for Schools, which launched EDU-Mode, a platform that streams educational videos.

“Internally, YouTube was not coy about its motivations for prioritizing EDU-Mode,” the lawsuit said. “YouTube imagined a world where parents ask their children, ‘Why aren’t you watching more YouTube?’ And school Administrations shift budgets from textbooks to YouTube subscriptions.”

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On May 15, Meta and three social media companies — Google, Snapchat and TikTok  — agreed to a multimillion-dollar settlement with the Breathitt County, Kentucky School District. The district alleged the platforms caused classroom disruption and mental health damage to students. The confidential settlement documents were first reported by Bloomberg.

Evidence in the case showed Snapchat sending phone alerts to students during class time. The alerts encouraged them to post photos of what was happening at school.

Internal company documents from 2018 showed 64% of Snapchat users aged 13-21 reported using the platform during school. The company created numerous avenues for advertisers to reach teenagers at school, and created features that would encourage compulsive use of the platform by children, according to the lawsuit.

In a statement provided to The Washington Times, Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda said the company has “built YouTube responsibly — working with teachers, administrators, and parents’ groups to give students safer, more helpful experiences online.”

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He said the lawsuit has been “amicably resolved,” and the company is focused on age-appropriate products and parental controls.

The platforms have responded to the criticism by pointing out increased security features and parental controls.

Earlier this week, Meta rolled out a suite of new safety features for children and teens that will limit their access to harmful content.

The FCC’s review of the government’s E-Rate subsidies for public school internet is backed by more startling data involving classroom screen time.

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Nearly 1 in 4 teens report watching pornography during the school day, much of it on school-issued devices funded by E-Rate, commission aides told The Washington Times.

More than one-quarter of students aged 13 to 17 are using the artificial intelligence program ChatGPT to do their homework, which they access on laptops the schools give them, the commission said.

More damning evidence of the potential harm of classroom screen time was issued this month by the Harvard Center for Policy Research.

It found test scores, particularly in reading, have fallen since 2013, which is about the time schools began ramping up screen time in the classroom.

“The slowdown in learning coincided with a dismantling of test-based accountability and the rise in social media use,” the report concluded.

The Times reached out to Meta, Snapchat and TikTok for this report.

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Susan Ferrechio

sferrechio@washingtontimes.com

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