NYC back to school: New AI and screen time limits give parents relief

New York City's school year began on Thursday with a new policy restricting artificial intelligence (AI) and screen time for younger students. Parents expressed relief at the limits, hoping they could help curb children's screen time and AI use. The policy includes a yearlong moratorium on student-facing generative AI tools, such as chatbots, in preschool through eighth-grade classrooms, while allowing limited AI use in high schools.

For screen time, the policy bans individual devices for preschool through second grade, with limits of 30 minutes a day for grades 3-5 and 45 minutes for middle school. There are no screen time guidelines for high school. The policy was implemented following a strong pushback from parents against AI and technology use in schools.

While Mayor Zohran Mamdani hailed it as the "broadest generative AI moratorium in the nation," Los Angeles announced an even stricter policy limiting AI use for high schoolers. Questions remain regarding how the city will enforce the policy and ensure adherence to the screen time limits. Parents, however, plan to use the new policy as a starting point for discussions with their children about AI use and screens.

Some parents have already begun having conversations with their kids about the policy and setting boundaries around device usage.