American Federation of Teachers wants to ban screens and AI for young students. Long Island educators aren't convinced.

Schools should do more to limit technology in the classroom but calls from the nation's second-largest teachers' union to impose sharp new restrictions on computer use — including a ban on screens for the youngest students — go too far, several Long Island educators said this week.

The American Federation of Teachers’ president, Randi Weingarten, laid out the union’s proposals in a speech Wednesday in Washington, D.C. The AFT’s 1.8 million members includes about 130,000 New York State United Teachers members in Nassau and Suffolk counties, the union said.

The union’s recommendations include an immediate ban on screens, including computer-based assessments, for students in kindergarten through second grade, as well as prohibitions on the use of artificial intelligence in elementary schools and on so-called “social companion” AI chatbots for those under 16. Weingarten cited Jonathan Haidt’s widely discussed book “The Anxious Generation” as an inspiration for the proposals.

Students are “drowning in tech,” Weingarten said at the National Press Club. Educators and parents, she said, “cannot manage the tech juggernaut on our own.”

The use of technology in the classroom has been a hotly-debated topic around the nation, with some states exploring measures to limit students' use of digital devices or artificial intelligence.

On Long Island, educators who spoke to Newsday on Thursday had mixed reactions to the union's proposals. 

Some voiced support, arguing the youngest students do not need to use computers and older students would benefit from using less technology. But others favored what they called a “balanced” approach that limits the use of computers while still preparing students for a world where technology is ubiquitous.

“I don't think that eliminating completely AI and screens is the answer, because that's where the future and that's where the world is going,” said Dafny Irizarry, president of the Long Island Latino Teachers Association.

Irizarry, who teaches English as a new language at a high school on Long Island, said students “need to have digital literacy.” 

However, she said she opposes the use of chatbots such as ChatGPT, which generate blocks of text in response to prompts or questions. When students use them, she said, “the guidance is not always accurate.”

Anthony Mignella, schools superintendent in Baldwin, agreed. He said he also does not support using chatbots, but argued that some AI tools provide valuable feedback to teachers on skills such as sentence structure and grammar.

“That’s a powerful tool…that can help a student improve,” he said.

Mignella said of technology in classrooms, “We don't believe in banning it, but using it appropriately and teaching students how to use it appropriately is going to be critical.”

In Franklin Square, schools Superintendent Jared Bloom said his district incorporates AI in some lessons, but always in ways that are monitored closely by teachers and that protect students’ privacy.

The use of technology is limited and intentional, he said, and teachers leave time for learning that is “unplugged and play and project-based learning, and not taking the human out of school.”

Screen time concerns

Kevin Toolan, a sixth grade teacher and union president in the Patchogue-Medford district who mentors elementary school teachers, said he favored a ban on screens for young children.

Students in the K-2 grades should be learning fundamental skills such as reading and writing and developing social and emotional skills, not using technology, he said.

As students get older, technology — including AI — can help students practice and solidify skills such as memorizing times tables, but it should not replace human interaction, he said.

Technology can help with “skill reinforcement,” he said, “but as far as the delivery of instruction, I don't see any value in that.”

Plus, students prefer hands-on learning, he said.

“When you put something tactile in for the students, if you give them a project to work on, if you give them a play to carry out, the children are ecstatic,” he said.

Local educators have seen “very positive results” from the state's ban on students’ smart devices in schools, including better behavior and more interactions between students, and restrictions on in-class technology also would be welcome, said Bob Vecchio, executive director of the Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association

“There's studies that show too much screen time is not good for the developing brain, so obviously we would support that,” he said. Plus, he said, “the use of artificial intelligence by students has to be closely monitored” to make sure the technology is being used in ways that are age appropriate.

However, Vecchio said it is important for local officials to maintain control over decisions such as which vendors to work with and what policies to implement, “as opposed to a one size fits all mandate.”