Quakertown Community School District students have a message for their district: put down the laptops and look up, writes Jess Rohan for Bucks County Courier Times.

In a district-wide “listening tour” that gathered feedback from roughly 256 secondary students, Interim Superintendent Lisa Hoffman heard a consistent refrain: too much screen time, not enough human connection.

Students told her they feel disengaged, and that their school days have become a matter of “going through the motions rather than actively connecting and learning,” Hoffman said.

Hoffman presented her findings at the Quakertown Community School District’s May school board meeting after spending two months in conversation with students, parents, and staff across all grade levels.

What emerged wasn’t a complaint about any single app or platform, but a broader hunger for the kind of learning that can’t happen on a screen.

Students said they want stronger relationships with their peers and teachers. They want fewer assignments tethered to a device.

And according to Hoffman, the push didn’t come from administrators or policy advocates; it came from the students themselves.

The findings have prompted school district officials to begin reevaluating how technology is used inside classrooms, a conversation that comes as Pennsylvania lawmakers debate legislation that would further restrict cellphone use in schools.

One current proposal would still permit school-issued devices for educational purposes, but Quakertown’s student feedback raises questions about the use of screen-based learning overall.

For now, Quakertown Community School District officials are listening to students as they figure out what comes next.

Learn more about the student-led push for less screen-based learning in Quakertown Community School District in Bucks County Courier Times.

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