Experts Say Negative Side Effects Of Screen Time Are Intensified By Online School
Keeping kids at home glued to a screen poses an imminent threat to their mental health, academic growth, and social skills.
Atlanta schools opened for 'Spider-Man' filming but not for students
The cast and crew of a major film production is set to return to Atlanta, Georgia, classrooms before Atlanta students.
What are the details?
Despite students still being barred from returning to in-person classes, Atlanta Public Schools granted special permission to Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures to film "Spider-Man" at two local schools — Frederick Douglass High School and Henry W. Grady High School — in January and March, respectively, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
The district delayed its plans to partially reopen schools for students last month and said that the soonest students may be able to return to classes is January, and that's not even guaranteed. School buildings were closed and classes were moved fully online more than eight months ago in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
As a part of the pandemic response, the district had also stopped the use of its facilities for film production. But now that policy appears to be changing after the big-name moviemaking companies threw their weight around.
In order to secure the special permission, the production reportedly dangled $50,000 in extra incentives in front of the district. Ian Easterbrook, location manager for the film, described the request as "unique and very time-sensitive" and said that he had "exhausted our normal channels of communication" before reaching out to Superintendent Lisa Herring directly.
"I know that APS is currently not accepting filming applications due to the COVID pandemic, and I know that filming a new movie quickly falls to the bottom of the priority list," he wrote in an email to the district obtained by the news outlet.
He reportedly added that use of the two schools is "vital to the success of this next film" because the location had already been established in the film's forerunner, "Spider-Man: Homecoming," which debuted in 2017.
What else?
The move to allow filming inside the schools before allowing in-person education to resume has upset some parents, according to the Washington Post.
"In person school is not only safe, it's necessary for learning," wrote one mother and teacher on Twitter. "Too bad kids don't generate the millions a movie does, or they'd be back in front of their teacher in a classroom rather than a computer screen."
A spokesman for the district, Seth Coleman, said that "Spider-Man" is the first film project to receive permission to use its schools for filming since the start of the pandemic. He noted that the request was approved because the schools were used before for the previous move in the series.
In addition to the $50,000 donation, the district will reportedly collect its customary filming fees of $750 a day for setup and tear-down and $2,500 a day for filming, as well as by-the-hour charges for any staff time.
New Virginia study finds online schooling is severely damaging students' academic achievement
A new study conducted by Virginia's largest school system found that distance learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic is severely damaging academic achievement.
What are the details?
In comparison to the last academic year, the percentage of middle school and high school students enrolled in Fairfax County Public Schools receiving marks of "F" in two or more classes during the first quarter of this academic year rose from 6% to 11%, the district's Office of Research and Strategic Improvement found. The numbers represent a year-over-year increase of 83%.
Younger students were much more seriously affected than older ones, as middle-schoolers exhibited a 300% increase in marks of "F," while high schoolers exhibited a 50% increase.
The study also found that some of the most vulnerable students — those with disabilities and English-language learners — were the ones who have been struggling the most.
The number of students with disabilities who scored marks of "F" in two or more classes shot up by 111% to account for nearly one-fifth of those students, while the number of English-language learners who scored marks of "F" increased by 106% to account for 35% of those students.
While students in certain demographics exhibited more pronounced increases than others, the study found that "the pattern was pervasive across all student groups, grade levels, and content areas examined in this report."
What else?
In a summary of the findings, district researchers acknowledged that "there is reason for concern," especially considering that students who were previously not performing well were the ones who were having the hardest time.
"Results indicate a widening gap between students who were previously performing satisfactorily and those performing unsatisfactorily," the report noted. "In other words, students who performed well previously primarily performed slightly better than expected during Q1 of this year. In contrast, students who were previously not performing well, performed considerably less well. A greater proportion of low-performing students received failing grades during Q1 than would have been expected based on patterns of marks in prior years."
In a statement to the Washington Post, the school system's superintendent, Scott Brabrand, said they are working quickly to identify and aid the students who are struggling the most.
"We are working on identifying these students by name and by need and are working on specific interventions to support them right now and as we phase back in person," he said.
Despite the obvious damage being inflicted on students' academic achievement, the school system has halted plans to return to in-person classes until at least Nov. 30 due to a surge in coronavirus cases across the country.
Brabrand, however, vowed during a recent town hall that he has every intention of returning to in-person activities as soon as possible.
"We are committed to returning our kids to in-person. There will be some setbacks. There will be some pauses. I cannot promise you that it will be linear," he said.
California middle school student threatened with jail for missing online Zoom classes
A middle school student in California was threatened with being put in jail for missing online Zoom classes, according to the boy's father.
Mark Mastrov said his family recently received a letter from his son's middle school after his seventh-grade son reportedly missed 90 minutes of online classes. Mastrov said his son is a straight-A student who denies missing any classes.
The father hypothesizes that his son may have logged in after the teacher had already taken roll call during three 30-minute classes, causing the teacher to mark him absent. "I am not sure what happened," Mastrov said.
What Mastrov does know for certain is that the potential punishment prescribed by the school is "ridiculous."
"Out of the blue, we got this letter. It said my son had missed classes, and at the bottom it referenced a state law which said truants can go to jail for missing 90 minutes of class," Mastrov told the East Bay Times.
The California Department of Education states that "a student missing more than 30 minutes of instruction without an excuse three times during the school year must be classified as a truant and reported to the proper school authority." Parents of chronically truant children face fines of up to $2,000 and being put in jail for up to one year, according to the California Department of Education website.
Mastrov immediately called the Stanley Middle School because he wanted "to clear this up."
"I said, 'Are you going to come and try to arrest my son at my home, or fine me for not getting him to his Zoom class perfectly, on time every day?'" he explained.
"He can become a truant of the state and he could be arrested," Mastrov told KGO-TV.
Stanley Middle School Principal Betsy Balmat said, "The letter is part of our responsibility to the state for our student attendance review boards. As always, the schools have a responsibility to ensure students are engaged and learning."
Balmat added that the family should have been called before receiving the letter. Mastrov said that he never received a call from the school.
The letter read, "When a student is absent without a valid excuse, the student is considered truant according to California law."
The letter lists six possible consequences for missing too many classes, including being put in jail: "The pupil may be subject to arrest under Education Code Section 48264."
"Schools in California use their daily attendance numbers for qualifying for state and federal funding," KIRO-TV reported.
Mastrov has written to state elected officials, asking that the truancy law be changed.
"Obviously we're in a pandemic and Gov. Newsom is trying to manage it," said Mastrov. "But if the state of California is focusing on arresting 12-year-old children for missing 90 minutes of school in ten months, it's ridiculous."
"Who passed this law in their infinite wisdom?" Mastrov asked. "Who in their right mind could do that?"
"I was told that it was the law. I said, 'Are you kidding me? Then that's a bad law,'" he said.
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