Cherry Hill Board Addresses Student AI Use and Screen Time Guidelines

Cherry Hill School District held a community meeting last week to discuss guidelines for artificial intelligence and screen time in the classroom. The district, the largest in South Jersey, presented its current technology policies to a room of residents. Board President Gina Winters selected technology as the first topic for the board's continuing community discussions. She noted that concerns about AI and device usage are timely.

Logan Freedman, a senior at Cherry Hill High School East, spoke to the group about her worries. She believes young students risk missing fundamental research and communication skills if they rely too much on AI. Freedman emphasized that reading textbooks and asking for help are vital for younger learners. Adults in the room agreed with her points on screen time and smartphone use during school hours.

One resident told the students that this is an adult problem as well as a student one. He said everyone is trying to find a way through the changes. The district has worked to craft acceptable technology guidelines like other local districts. The recent discussion focused on what counts as acceptable AI use in the learning process.

A parent argued that any new policy must be clear about how students treat AI answers. He said humans are often lazy and will take the first answer they see. He suggested students need training to fact-check AI outputs and click into links for deeper research. He warned that students should not take AI answers at face value.

The district’s AI implementation plan provides grade-level guidelines for the technology. In high school, the full range of AI use is available based on staff directions for specific assignments. The plan states that AI use should augment, not substitute for, student intellectual engagement. Only AI platforms on the district’s approved list may be used in teaching.

The plan also lists prohibited uses of AI. Students may not submit AI-generated work as their own. They must also disclose the use of AI when the teacher requires it. These rules apply across the district to maintain consistency in how technology is integrated into coursework.

Parents at the meeting also discussed restrictions on recreational screen time. The district’s guidelines recommend up to two hours of recreational screen time daily for sixth through eighth graders. Educational screen time for these grades should be limited to one hour per class during the week. At home, homework screen time for the same grades should not exceed one hour per day.

One mother described how technology has impacted her son’s ability to complete homework. Her eighth grader has weak handwriting and cannot read or write cursive. She said he also struggles with typing, making him unproductive during assignments. She often finds herself acting as his stenographer to help him finish his work.

Other parents raised issues with the use of YouTube videos in class instead of live instruction. One table of parents had a lively discussion about the ban on internet-enabled devices during the school day. One parent joked that seeing people play Uno in the cafeteria felt like a return to the 1990s. Another mother shared a story about her elementary school daughter who scraped her knee on a bike. The school only informed the mother at 9 p.m. because the child figured out the problem herself without a phone to call home.

The meeting highlighted the district's effort to balance modern tools with traditional learning methods. The board continues to gather input from parents and students as it refines its technology policies. The guidelines aim to support student engagement while ensuring they develop core academic skills.