Who is screen sense Oak Park?

Screen Sense Oak Park is a group of local parents who are concerned about digital products and our kids. If you are here with the same sentiments, SSOP includes you! We are disappointed that schools have become a significant part of big tech’s attention economy, and want classrooms to be run by educators and not shaped by a for-profit industry.

Since we began on April 7, 2026, we have had wonderful momentum and an enthusiastic community response. We have connected with Distraction Free Schools and participate in their weekly Illinois Workgroup, and also are connected with LA’s Schools Beyond Screens emerging national movement as an affiliate chapter. We have also collaborated with many other grassroots movements throughout Chicagoland, ranging from Evanston to Elmhurst.

Our Mission:

Screen Sense Oak Park exists because the kind of learning that builds capable, curious, resilient children is under pressure — and parents have both the right and the responsibility to protect it. We believe children should come first in their own education, ahead of corporate interests and market trends, and we hold a simple standard for District 97: Align the use of educational tools with how human learning really works. We partner with District 97 to ensure that classrooms prioritize human connection and rigorous thinking, and that every family has a meaningful voice in how their children spend their days.


Our Vision:

Real learning requires friction — the productive resistance of a hard problem, an unanswered question, a skill not yet mastered. Oak Park's schools will be places that protect that friction, where technology serves education rather than replacing the hard, meaningful work of growing up.


Our Values:

1. Children before devices
Every decision we ask District 97 to make begins with one question: is this good for children's development, or is it a convenience? When those two things are in conflict, evidence-based child development wins out. 

2. Whole-child excellence
We reject the idea that academic rigor and healthy development are in tension. The child who learns to tolerate frustration, think critically, collaborate with peers, and engage with hard ideas is also the child who will excel academically. We hold both standards simultaneously and refuse to sacrifice one for the other.

3. Evidence over enthusiasm
We do not oppose technology because it is new. We oppose its overuse because the research is clear — excessive screen time in childhood has measurable costs to cognition, attention, social development, and mental health. We expect District 97 to apply the same standard of evidence to use of digital products in schools that the district would apply to any other educational intervention.

4. Partnership with accountability
We pursue change through honest dialogue and good faith collaboration with District 97. We will always seek to work with the district before working against it. But partnership is not the same as deference — and we will not mistake cooperation for progress when our children's development is at stake.

what we have accomplished so far:

  • Over 1,500 petition signatures from D97 families

  • Since there has not been significant data collection on by the district, we have created a survey to collect information on the screen-related experiences of D97 families. Please take 5min to complete the survey!

  • We have coordinated comments at almost every school board meeting since April 2026, and have reached out to meet individually with each current school board member. Tech is officially on the agenda for the 9/22/26 school board meeting!

  • We have been meeting with D97 administrators since April 2026. D97 has implemented a number of positive steps in their new tech policy:

    • no-device policy during free time, indoor recess, and brain breaks, communicated to all D97 principals

    • iPads staying at school over the summer for K-1 rather than going home with students

    • iPads staying at school on nights and weekends for K-2 beginning this 2026-2027 school year; D97 is exploring this possibility for older grades (families may opt in if device access is needed or wanted at home)

    • YouTube now inaccessible on all district devices

    • Gemini AI access removed from student devices after we raised the concern directly

    • A district commitment to evaluate device use and its connection to curriculum (currently underway)

    • Bell-to-bell personal device ban is being re-emphasized district-wide heading into the current 2026-2027 school year

    • An ongoing audit of non-educational apps on student devices

  • SSOP provided input for D97's teacher guidance document on the updated district tech policy

We want to raise awareness about resources such as Smartphones on Hold (sign up your children today—this is a local movement!), Wait Until 8th, Screen Sanity and Screen Sense.

Informed by research and aligned with statewide and national groups, we ask the district to enact the the following changes:

  1. Eliminate 1:1 devices for grades K-5 (families may opt in)

  2. Eliminate digital homework for grades K-8 (families may opt in)

  3. Shift district digital guardrails from a “blocking” or “blacklisting” approach to an “allow” or “whitelisting” approach

  4. Pause access to AI for K-8, a gap not covered in the district’s current internet acceptable use policy. AI features are embedded on many sites and apps. Even with Gemini blocked, students still get the “AI overview” with any Google search.The district also needs to set clear guidance for teacher/staff use to reflect best practices and sustainability policies, given reports of staff using AI to create worksheets, cartoons, and other materials. 

Notes on equity:

  • We recognize that devices may be essential for students with learning needs related to IEPs and 504 plans, with medical needs, or who use devices for augmentative/alternative communication. We do not want to limit access that is medically or truly educationally necessary. (Conversely we have heard concerns from families of neurodivergent students that iPads sometimes turn into behavioral babysitters.) We have formed an open committee to consider the diverse perspectives of families with IEPs and 504 plans that support educational, medical and functional participation.

  • We do not want this to limit necessary internet or learning access for any students at home. This aligns well with the default mode being for iPads to stay at school, and for homework to be assigned with books, pencil and paper. Parents may opt-in for devices to be sent home.

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