Information and advocacy for classroom screen safety
Thursday, March 23, 2017
Maryland State Department of Education now says screen safety is "inferred"
On March 15, 2017 the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) knowingly provided misinformation to the Senate EHE Committee in its testimony regarding SB1089, claiming that Department has plans to address the health risks posed to our children by classroom digital devices.
In its letter to the Senators (see full letter, below), MSDE testified that screen time health issues are part of its draft ESSA document.
When pressed, however, the Department now says that screen time issues are "inferred" in the ESSA draft and offers only the following reference to classroom screen time:
Develop guidelines/policies related to digital content that ensures
accessibility and encourages personalized learning, prepare students for
College and Career, and promote academic achievement and digital
literacy. August 2017 State
Provide models of best practice for the use of technology in daily
instruction and encourage the use of the Partnership for Assessment of
Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) and the Maryland Integrated
Science Assessment (MISA) Practice Tests.
This is unacceptable and insufficient. Our children are legally owed a safe classroom environment. Maryland's entire medical community, including the American Academy of Pediatrics Maryland Chapter and MedChi has endorsed HB866 and SB1089, underscoring the urgency of this legislation to protect children of all ages from being SERIOUSLY AND UNNECESSARILY HARMED by the schools' hazardous equipment in a variety of ways, from myopia and permanent retinal damage to depression, sleeplessness and addiction.
The schools can't and won't protect our children. They are not medically qualified. The
Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is hiding from their School Health
responsibilities now too. (See below.)
We must have medical oversight for the medical hazards facing our children, introduced by the use of school-issued equipment.
Call or email Delegate Luedtke's office (410-841-3110) or contact him @EricLuedtke. Ask him to find a way to get HB866 passed, and back over to the Senate.
Each day, this legislation becomes more and more important.
Tuesday, March 21, 2017
Thank goodness for Google cache.
The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene's Office of School Health web page that outlines its responsibility for classroom screen safety is still available to the public: http://bit.ly/2mR0N6F
Oh, no! Now that's missing too? It's okay. We saved ithere.
Despite what DHMH tried to say:
On March 10, 2017, members of the House and Senate Committees considering SB1089/HB866 were told of the DHMH responsibility for screen safety guidelines, as identified on the DHMH Office of School Health web page. But that page has disappeared.
Dear Delegate Kaiser, Senator Carter Conway,
The classroom screen safety bill (HB866/SB1089 "Primary and Secondary Education - Health and Safety Guidelines and Procedures - Digital Devices") now being considered by the House Ways and Means Committee will be heard by the Senate EHEA Committee next Wednesday, March 15. This bill directs DHMH to create safety and health guidelines to address the serious health risks facing Maryland students, now that the children are using digital devices in school every day.
OSHA has protected adults from many of the same health hazards posed by computer equipment for decades; doctors are quick to point out that the risks are more serious for growing children. Maryland students using digital devices in school every day now face increased myopia, permanent retinal damage, dry eye disease, headaches, sleeplessness, obesity, anxiety, addiction and more.
Drafting classroom safety guidelines is already DHMH's responsibility as part of its School Health program. This is made clear on the Department's School Health web page: http://pophealth.dhmh.maryland.gov/pages/School-Health.aspx Responsibilities of the Office of School Health include:
⦁ To develop policies, procedures, and programs to meet the health and health related needs of school aged children
This bill simply directs DHMH to craft guidelines for classroom digital device use specifically, because the school equipment poses serious medical risks to children, requiring professional medical oversight.
MedChi and the American Academy of Pediatrics' Md. Chapter (MDAAP) endorse this legislation, recognizing "there is a growing body of evidence that there are serious potential health risks for children associated with excessive use of digital devices," and that "it is critical that health and safety guidelines be developed to ensure that those risks are accounted for in the use of digital devices in the classrooms."
The medical community also underscores the need for consistent, statewide guidelines from DHMH and notes that "legitimately, the local jurisdictions don't have the time or expertise to put a framework together."
The Children's Environmental Health and Protection Advisory Council (CEHPAC) also endorses this legislation, recognizing that Maryland's children need to be medically protected from known health hazards. Children's advocates nationwide are anxiously hoping for its passage, as a blueprint for their own states.
With 26 co-sponsors from across the state for HB866 , and both Baltimore County and Montgomery County Senators co-sponsoring SB1089, this legislation has broad bi-partisan support. The Fiscal Policy Note reports that the bill will not cost anything.
More technology is becoming increasingly accessible to more and younger Maryland students, so it is critically important to direct the state's medical experts to protect them from avoidable harm. I hope you will help to ensure this effort is successful.
Here's what the Senate EHEA Committee saw before a majority voted SB1089 down. Thanks to Senators Shirley Nathan-Pulliam, Johnny Ray Salling, Bryan Simonaire and Ron Young for protecting our kids from being harmed in school.
Montgomery County Attorney questions MSDE claims regarding safe use of digital devices. MSDE letter regarding SB1089, is below.
Dear Ms. Gable,
According to Tiffany Johnson Clark, Esq., the MSDE draft of Maryland's ESSA Plan addresses issues surrounding the amount of screen time that public school students will have on digital devices. In my review of THE DRAFT DOCUMENT, I have not been able to find the specific section that addresses the amount of screen time that students should be on digital devices while in public school classrooms. Can you please assist me in locating the section of the draft that speaks to this issue?
We believe that this representation from Ms. Clark has been used to influence the votes of members of the Maryland legislature on a bill that seeks to address this very issue. In an effort to provide the legislature with accurate information, we would like to have the specific citation to where the issue of digital device screen time in public school classrooms is addressed in the draft ESSA Plan.
Thank you for your expert assistance.
Janis Zink Sartucci, Esq.
Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, MD
The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) believes there is little proof of harm to our children as a result of using digital devices in school every day. This, despite the entire medical community underscoring serious medical risks. Both the Maryland State Medical Society and the American Academy of Pediatrics Maryland chapter strongly support this bill.
Read on... written by the chief ed tech proponent in the school system... signed by the MSDE legislative representative.
Friday, March 17, 2017
Senate EHE Committee votes down screen safety bill, putting Maryland students at risk for blindness from school equipment.
Thank you Senators Nathan-Pulliam, Young, Salling and Simonaire for voting to protect our kids. Perhaps the others will reconsider?
March 17, 2017 Dear Delegate Arentz and Co-sponsors of HB866,
Last night the Senate EHE committee voted down SB1089, the cross filed bill for HB866, which directs DHMH to do its job, and create safety guidelines to protect our children from hazardous school equipment, as part of its Office of School Health. A simple, no-cost request that our children do not suffer from permanent damage from using devices that are unsafe.
The Committee voted it down last night, following Wednesday's hearing wherein the Senators saw a very informative video, received favorable oral testimony from a pediatric ophthalmologist and the American Academy of Pediatrics Maryland chapter, all of which underscored the urgency of this effort. Piles of letters were received by the Committee in support as well, outlining all the risks our children face because of unregulated use of devices in school. Experts from around the country in a variety of specialties from optometry to psychiatry weighed in, alongside some of Maryland's largest parent coalitions. Please do everything within your power today to persuade your colleagues in the Ways and Means Committee to favorably review HB866. A social media campaign was launched before dawn this morning among parents across the state, and across the country.
Whosoever knowingly harms a child will be held responsible.
The
Maryland State Medical Society and the Maryland Chapter of the American
Academy of Pediatrics endorse screen safety bills HB866 and SB1089:
Saturday, February 25, 2017
Start writing and calling now! Senate Educational, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee will hear companion legislation, Senate Bill 1089, on March 15th at 1:00.
Teachers and Moms are speaking out!
For the HB866 Ways and Means Committee Hearing, Feb. 24, 2017:
My name is Erica Mah, a parent with 2 children in Baltimore County Public Schools. I am sorry that I am unable to be there in person to give testimony in favor of HB 866 which I wholeheartedly support.
But I have an obligation Friday afternoon and evening to my daughter’s school’s Literature Night where we celebrate favorite books - a most worth cause I am sure you’d all agree. We celebrate books that children may have read on paper or on screen or even listen to as an audiobook. Children are now able to access books in so many ways because of technology and in my opinion more access to books is always better.
But reading books using technology, and using technology at all, needs to be done with guidance. Students should not listen to devices at a volume setting of 100 while using headsets (yes, 100 is the maximum). Students should not read on a screen in a darkened classroom. Nor should they read in font that is smaller than 12 points. Or read slouched over a desk or with their eyes up as close as 6 inches to the screen. Or play games while they are supposed to be reading, extending their time on the screen with flashing lights and animation.
But these are all things I have seen children do in classrooms using their BCPS issued devices. These are issues I have asked BCPS to address, in particular to elementary school children as young as 6 who now have their own devices.
Despite the massive rollout of devices to our young children, BCPS does not have health and safety guidelines for their devices. Nothing about limiting the amount of screen time. Nothing about protecting students’ vision or about font sizes. Nothing about hearing and volume level. Nothing about posture.
That is why I am writing in support of HB 866. Because we need to educate our children with technology. But we need to do this as we do everything for our children - with care and with their safety and health as the top priority. Do I want my children to be familiar with technology? Absolutely. But do I want schools to do this at risk of my children’s vision and hearing and brain development? Absolutely not.
Please vote yes on HB 866 and thank you for asking schools to set guidelines to protect our children.
Sincerely,
Erica Mah
Parent, Hillcrest Elementary School and Catonsville MIddle School
Catonsville
Baltimore County, Maryland
.................................................. Dear Chairmen Kaiser and Carter Conway,
The
bills you are considering (HB866/SB1089) that will engage medical
professionals in setting safety guidelines in Maryland classrooms are
very important to me. I hope you will pass them.
As
a twice-tenured fifteen year veteran teacher at the elementary level
in NY, I have seen the damaging effects of screens firsthand. Having
stepped out of the classroom for 8 years to take care of my own
children, I was shocked at what I discovered when I returned to
teaching.
They are not the same children that I had once taught before
screens entered the classroom. I get through less curriculum, see less
critical thinking skills and have children who are stressed, tired and
zoned out.
And sure enough, when I inquire about it, it seems that all
roads lead to violent video games or allegedly "educational"
screen time that seems to be wasted time. I implore you to pass this
bill. I would love to help initiate similar legislation here in NY. The
time has come for the medical community to ensure that our children are
truly safe from this inundation of digital devices.
Sincerely,
Luz Rojas Kardaras
3rd Grade Teacher
Southampton Elementary School
Southampton, NY
WJZ-TV coverage of House Bill 866 Hearing Ways and Means Committee, Feb. 24, 2017
Video: Hearing testimony on House Bill 866 (With many thanks to a terrific General Assembly IT guy.)
Testimony letter for HB866: "Primary and Secondary Education - Health and Safety Guidelines and Procedures - Digital Devices"
House Ways and Means Committee Hearing
February 24, 2017
House Bill 866: SUPPORT
Chairman Kaiser, Vice Chair Turner, Members of the Committee:
Thank you for hearing this bill today. I'd also like to thank those members who have co-sponsored House Bill 866: Delegates Eric Ebersole, April Rose, Haven Shoemaker and Jimmy Tarlau.
They have joined Delegate Arentz - our hero - making a total of 26 members of the House of Delegates, representing nearly every county, to safeguard Maryland's students from well-documented, avoidable harm posed by school equipment.
The health risks associated with digital devices have been known for decades. OSHA regulated computer monitors for adults back in the 1990s. Having enjoyed a cutting-edge technology career, I have known about these issues for years. That's why I was shocked to learn that Maryland has no safety guidelines for digital device use among growing children.
Scientific evidence mounts each day underscoring the need for professional medical guidance to ensure the safety of our kids. Myopia has doubled in our country. Scientists assure us that the blue light emmitted from the screens is permanently damaging students' vision, especially the youngest ones. Neck pain, blurry vision, dry eyes, headaches, sleeplessness, obesity, anxiety, depression and addiction are all documented side effects of students who use digital devices every day.
You can review the specific studies and references on www.screensandkids.us. Or you can heed the advice of the Maryland State Medical Society, MedChi, whose members -- all of them doctors -- agree that the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene must get involved to protect our kids and establish safety and health guidelines for our classrooms.
What's key about the involvement of DHMH is that department's role within the scientific and medical community. DHMH is uniquely qualified to monitor new peer-reviewed data, trends, and evolving approaches to screen safety. They have access to the vast array of specialty practitioners whose expertise is direly needed: optometrists, ophthalmologists, ergonomic experts, environmental health experts, and psychologists.
Teachers and school administrators should heave a large sigh of relief over this bill, knowing that they are no longer left to figure this all out for themselves. They are not doctors, but they are nonetheless legally responsible for the safety of the children in their care. The unsafe use of equipment that harms our children is not a small legal consideration.
Best of all, HB866 is free of charge. Legislative services reports in its Fiscal Policy Note that there is no cost associated with the passage of this bill. Students are protected from permanent harm, teachers are protected from additional liability, and it's free.
Please pass this common sense, critical bill and protect the health of all Maryland children as they master the skills they will need to be successful.
to hear classroom digital device safety bill FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 23, 2017
(ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND) The
House Ways and Means Committee of the Maryland General Assembly will hear
legislation on Friday, February 24th at 1:00 that directs the state
Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH) to craft safety
guidelines for the use of digital devices in Maryland public schools.
Delegate Steven Arentz (R-District 36) has sponsored the legislation, House Bill 866, "Primary and Secondary Education - Health and Safety Guidelines and Procedures - Digital Devices." The House bill has 25 co-sponsors and broad bi-partisan support.
An
identical bill has been cross-filed by Senator Steve Hershey
(R-District 36), co-sponsored by Senator James Brochin
(D-District 42) and Senator Susan Lee (D-District 16). It has been
referred to the Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee.
HB866 aims
to protect Maryland students from the health hazards that
medical experts have for many years associated with daily use of digital devices. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(OSHA) has had regulations governing the use of computers
for office workers since the 1990s, but schools have no medical oversight.
"More
and more experts are proving that there are serious risks to our kids'
health because they spend every day on a digital device," Delegate Arentz said. "Maryland
students need to get the most out of this technology, so we want medical
professionals to lead us in a safe direction."
Researchers have shown that many of the same health
issues addressed by OSHA are now facing students who use digital devices every day in
school. Retinal damage from blue light emissions, myopia, sleeplessness,
muscle and joint pain, headaches, blurred vision, obesity, anxiety and
addiction have all been associated as health risks facing students
because of daily digital device use.
The
bill has substantial support from the state's medical community. The
Maryland State Medical Society (MedChi), which represents all of
Maryland's doctors, voted to support the legislation at their most
recent meeting, according to
Gene Ransom, MedChi's Executive Director. One of the co-sponsors, Delegate Clarence Lam, is a physician who leads
Johns Hopkins University's preventative medicine residency program.
Believed to be the first of its kind, the Maryland bill also has the attention of several large health groups across the country. The
nation's leading vision health organization, Prevent Blindness,
supports the Maryland bill. Senior Vice President Jeff Todd wrote a
letter commending Maryland's "efforts to ensure children’s vision, eye health and safety is at the
forefront of any statewide effort related to childhood development."
Optometrists
from around the country have also sent support to the General Assembly
urging passage of this legislation, including J. Scott Sikes, O.D., a NC
Optometric Society Education Trustee and Dr. Geoffrey Goodfellow, OD,
FAAO, an Associate Professor at the Illinois College of Optometry and an
attending optometrist in the Pediatrics/Binocular Vision Service of the
Illinois Eye Institute.
“Protecting
eyesight when it comes to the progressive use of digital technology and
screen time addiction in young people is our number one priority” said
Justin Barrett,
CEO of Healthe, a company that creates products "to reduce exposure to harmful digital UV and High-Energy Visible (HEV) blue light emitted from such devices." "We hope the lawmakers will pass this important legislation to set
a precedent for other states in the protection of all students."
Dr. Nicholas Kardaras, PhD, LCSW-R, a nationally recognized addiction
expert and author of Glow Kids: How Screen Addiction Is Hijacking Our
Kids, writes: "I
commend the screen safety effort in Maryland and strongly encourage the General
Assembly to pass HB 866 and SB 1089 to mandate medically sound classroom
regulations."
Campaign
for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC) is a national advocacy
organization with nearly 50,000 members, including 1,000 in Maryland.
The group has asked Maryland lawmakers to give HB866 their "complete
endorsement." In a letter to the Ways and Means Committee, CCFC
Executive Director, Josh Golin, writes, "It is critical that medical
professionals develop clear, research-based, age-appropriate guidelines
for the use of digital devices in schools."
Citing its 30-page research document released in August, Parents
Across America (PAA) is another national advocacy group endorsing
HB866/SB1089. PAA notes that it "has prepared extensive materials about the harmful
effects on children's academic, intellectual, emotional, physical and
social development when digital devices are misused and overused... We
applaud the Maryland lawmakers who have responded quickly and
appropriately to this critical situation."
Maryland parents have rallied to support the classroom screen safety bill as well. Leslie Weber, Co-Founder of Advocates for Baltimore County Schools
(ABCSchools), the largest public education advocacy coalition in the
county, says, "This bill is greatly needed, especially in
Baltimore County, where one of the nation's largest 1:1 digital
initiatives is underway. Children as young as 5 are in front of screens
most days -- objective guidelines from the DHMH are needed
to ensure the safety of these students." Janis
Sartucci, a member of the Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, said,
"This bill is long overdue. Our children need to be protected from a
variety of health risks that could affect them for a lifetime. We must
get DHMH involved to be sure kids aren't hurt."
Queen
Anne's County parent, Cindy Eckard, has testified and written
extensively about the need for medical oversight of classroom digital
devices. Her Op Eds have appeared in both the Washington Post and the Baltimore Sun. During a recent radio interview Ms. Eckard told WBAL Radio reporter Robert Lang, "Of course we want our kids to master technology; we just don't want them harmed in the process."
Ms. Eckard also noted that teachers have a legal duty of care to protect students
from known hazards in the classroom. "This bill will help
teachers too, giving them statewide, uniform safety guidelines, from
medical professionals and specialists at DHMH."
Links
to medical research; recorded General Assembly testimony; a screen
safety press conference held in Annapolis with actress/comedian Paula
Poundstone, and detailed information regarding the legislation are
available on the website www.screensandkids.us or email questions to Ms. Eckard at screensandkids@gmail.com.
###
Concerned citizens should
contact the Chair, the Sponsor, and their own Delegate(s), while copying
members of the Ways and Means Committee. All phone numbers are 410-841-extension.
