‘No Critical Thinking’: Parents Sound Alarm As Tech Begins To ‘Replace The Teacher’

Parents are increasingly concerned about the rise of technology in classrooms and the negative side effects of these changes that are increasing among children across the country.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic pushed schools toward remote learning, many have become increasingly reliant on technology, digitizing assignments and giving every student a computer or tablet to facilitate classroom learning. But after seeing their children become angrier, less sociable and less educated, parents are asking where the teachers have gone.

“What are we doing with an iPad all day, eight hours a day in the hands of our children?” Patricia McCoy, a mother of four from Wyoming, spoke to the Daily Caller News Foundation. “It's disturbing, frankly. They're giving your kids worksheets on iPads. There's not really any critical thinking happening because they're being given apps that are replacing teachers.”

Even when parents ask for more help for their troubled children, in some schools the solution always comes down to using new technology.

“If your child is struggling with math, instead of giving them tutoring, he will recommend that you use this app on your iPad to teach them how to solve that math,” McCoy continued. “But this app doesn't teach them math. They enter a problem and it gives them a fully written and worked out solution, so no critical thinking is required. The answer is given to them. They have ChatGPT and other things like ChatGPT ready, which, again, does all the thinking for them. And all they have to do is come in, log into the iPad, get the answers from one app, paste them into another app, and get a grade.”

This has some parents wondering where teachers have gone and whether they are even teaching their students.

“THEY DON'T WANT TO TEACH”

“Covid has really created a lot of this, and now it's become a lot easier for some teachers to just sit these kids in front of a screen,” Mike Maldonado, a California father of five, told DCNF. “And that makes it easier for some of these teachers because they don't want to teach. They're just here for the job.”

“We can't ignore the fact that all of these things make a teacher's life easier, which actually, I think, leads to a worse outcome,” Jamie Brennan, a member of the Frederick County Board of Education who spoke for herself rather than the board, told DCNF. “When a teacher can go online and create an assignment with AI, now they don't think twice. Now they don't use their brainpower, and it's like a trickle-down effect. We've already implemented screens and technology at a level that I don't think we humans were designed for, and we haven't adapted to it very well.”

Crucially, Brennan said, the use of AI prevents students from developing automaticity, the skill of remembering basic solutions like simple addition to the point where you don't even think about it, which is a foundational skill that students retain throughout their education and into adulthood.

McCoy told DCNF that the digital learning environment has left her youngest son academically “two to three years behind” his siblings who have not gone through this new screen-based school system.

“He is significantly behind academically,” McCoy said. “He is doing what he needs to do to pass the exam, but intellectually and academically he is several years behind his two siblings at this age, and it is sad and heartbreaking as a mother to know that I probably failed my child because I went along with what the school said was going to help them.”

Even though McCoy's son is “a few years behind,” he expects to graduate on time.

“We're graduating kids who should go to community college and take remedial math,” Brennan said. “Our kids finish 12th grade and go on to 13th. So we graduate kids who aren't ready to function in the regular world.”

HAS A SCREEN

Not only is she worried about his education, the concerned mum has noticed a noticeable change in her son's mood as he is forced to spend more and more time in front of a screen.

“One time I tried to take my son's phone away and it felt like a demon was looking at me. My son wasn't looking at me,” McCoy recalls. “His eyes were completely black and cold. It was like he was a completely different person, like a drug addict, and you take the drug from them. And he was 15 years old at the time.”

Without a phone, McCoy said her son is a new person.

“He was a completely different person that week. He wasn't too tired and sleepy all day. He was actually interacting with his family and spending time with us. Instead of being closed off and locked in his room, he played more with our dogs,” McCoy said. (EXCLUSIVE: Parents group sounds alarm over companion apps that are driving children to suicide and harming development)

Maldonado believes these behavioral problems are partly due to children's lack of human interaction in classrooms that are increasingly reliant on screens.

“Part of the problem is they’ve lost a lot of the interaction,” Maldonado said. “That's why some of these kids, I think, act out, because they don't want to listen to the teacher. There should be that communication between two people, two people, not a screen where they can't really interact and pick up the tone, the tone of voice in the response.”

“This is a serious problem,” Maldonado continued. “How do you function in society without social skills? And we see this all the time. Social skills can definitely be learned, it's a trait you acquire by interacting with people when you're young. And that's the biggest thing, people don't understand that if there's no interaction, that person will be isolated not only from the class, but from home and from society.”

This problem is especially evident in children who were younger in the year of Covid, Maldonado said. The so-called “Covid babiesThese are usually “those who you see have the most behavioral problems.”

“It's hard to get some of these kids to look you in the eye and make eye contact. They don't know human interaction,” agreed Brennan, adding that students today don't even meet as often as they used to. “I'm very worried about where this will lead and what our children will be like. We're already seeing the negative consequences of this breakup, people are waiting until they get married. They don't get married.”

THE PRICE AMERICA PAYS

Meanwhile, as the use of artificial intelligence (AI) grows among young people, more and more data and stories It appears that this tool often exposes children to inappropriate content, harms the development of critical thinking skills, and sometimes drives children to suicide by overtly teaching it to them. Brain scan A study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) found that brain activity was significantly reduced in participants who used AI compared to those who used a traditional search engine, and memory was impaired after tasks completed with AI.

It's interesting that schools that are struggling with budget issues and often don't get promised district staff increases somehow find the funds to buy brand new devices for every student – even if they already have slightly older but still functional devices.

“Most [the money goes] on administration, fees, and other things that have nothing to do with educating our children, or they spend it on these expensive iPads and technology that shouldn't even be in the classrooms, and then they go to the state and say, “You're not giving us enough money.” We need more money,” McCoy told DCNF. “Well, we keep spending money on the problem, but the problem isn't getting better or going away. It gets worse every year. So, it is clear that money does not solve the problem of why our children cannot read, write and do math.”

“Stop spending money on iPads and put that money into classrooms instead,” McCoy continued. “Give it to the teachers.”

While Tina Deskovic, co-founder and CEO of the parent advocacy group Moms for Freedom, reflects the concerns of many parents, she also told DCNF that technology can have a place in the classroom.

“I think they should be used very responsibly,” Deskovic said. “There are so many great teachers who would like to use AI to improve their skills and teach their children better.”

“Moms for Freedom” signed take an oath with the White House in September to promote innovation and interest in AI among America's youth.

Brennan remains concerned that technology in the classroom interferes with children's ability to think independently and may harm the development of future skills rather than promote interest or knowledge in technology.

“Are you trying to keep up with the kids who are learning to use this technology, or are you trying to create kids who will develop this technology? Because those are two different things,” Brennan said. “So if we're just teaching our kids to be consumers of technology, then of course the easy way out is to do everything with technology. If you're trying to continue to teach kids to be creators of technology, they need to learn how to think and process information without relying on technology. They need other skills that aren't based on technology.”

PARENTS STILL HAVE POWER

For parents concerned about the technological takeover of their children's classrooms who feel the school isn't listening to them, Deskovic said that along with helping their children at home whenever possible, parents should “rally with like-minded parents.”

“Start educating your community,” Deskovic said. “I think when parents really understand what's going on and what the problems are and what the risks are, they'll want to take action. And when enough parents come to school board meetings and talk about the problem we know we have, you can definitely make an impact and they'll listen.”

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