Giunta presents new screen time policy for grades 2K through 8
Giunta outlines the updated screen time policy: no individual screen use for 2K through grade 2, recommended 30-minute limits for grades 3-5, 45 minutes for grades 6-8, and course-dictated use for high school, emphasizing technology should be used sparingly with clear instructional purposes.
And while we're grateful to Governor Hochul for enacting this law statewide, we know cell phones are not the only screen students interact with in their day-to-day lives.
When it comes to our classrooms, we believe technology best supports student learning when it is used sparingly, with clear instructional purposes, and for younger students, only under the direct supervision of their teacher.
All of our students, but our youngest in particular,
need hands-on learning, social interaction, play, and teacher-guided instruction.
And routine individual screen use can crowd out those experiences.
Technology should not be the primary means of instruction or as a go-to tool for keeping students busy,
entertained or quiet.
Building on the shared understanding on September 2nd of this year, this administration announced an updated policy on
AI and screen time for the 26-27 school year to establish more robust guardrails beyond the initial guidance released in March 2026.
This updated policy is designed to further protect our students from the negative impacts of excessive screens and artificial intelligence.
On screen time specifically, we know that unfettered, unstructured time in front of screens can diminish the interpersonal interactions necessary for growth in areas like language development and cognitive functioning.
It can also negatively impact emotional development and behavior, especially in our young children.
As such, for the 26-27 school year, students in grades 2K through 2 will have no individual screen use, and students in grades 3 through 5
will be limited to a recommended 30 minutes maximum of screen time per day.
And for students in grades 6 through 8, the recommendation is no more than 45 minutes per day.
For our high school students, device use will be dictated by the course.
We are communicating with schools that as in the lower grades, use of screens must be for specific instructional purpose, used sparingly, and that unstructured device use is not acceptable.