Lebanon Township, N.J., limiting classroom screen time for K-8 students

As students get ready to go back to school, one New Jersey school district is taking a first-in-the-state approach to limit screen time. 

Lebanon Township is putting a two-hour cap on screen time in classrooms for students in grades K-8. 

"I think the landscape of educational technology has morphed over time, and it's become too pervasive and inconsistent. So this is us taking the lead, putting parameters around technology each and every day and finding a balance," schools superintendent Hal Abraham said. 

Language arts teacher Julie Garvey noticed over the past few years, her sixth grade students barely knew how to write on lined paper. 

"You asked a student to open a notebook and take out a sheet of paper just to write something down on scrap, and they'll take out a sheet and put it backwards, and upside down and start writing on it," Garvey said. 

She's ready to go back to basics on day one. 

"I'm going to actually have to go and take a piece of paper and teach them where the margin is, and how to write their name, and use indents," she said. 

A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found more than half of teens in the United States have four hours or more of screen time each day, and that wasn't even counting time spent on schoolwork. 

"Technology is important. It's not going anywhere. It's here to stay. But the beauty in life and in our society is in connection, and we want to make sure we capitalize on that," Abraham said. 

He says since the school board passed the policy earlier this month, dozens of other districts have reached out asking for a copy. 

Middle school students like Payton Darcy and Silas Mazakas will be trading in their Chromebooks for actual books. Laptops have been a staple in almost every class. 

"We definitely use them, abuse them. A lot of kids use them for games," Darcy said. 

They said they're hopeful the new program will help them stay focused. 

"We were writing vocabulary words in science, and I wrote it down on the Chromebook first. Didn't really remember it. Then I wrote it on paper and I remembered it a lot better," Mazakas said. 

A new law also takes effect in New Jersey this academic year requiring all school districts to limit student use of cellphones during the school day.