The agency has been subsidizing connectivity to and within schools for almost 30 years, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said.
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is reviewing its internet subsidy program for schools amid concerns that excessive screen time for children is linked to poor educational outcomes.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in a June 3 statement that the commission is launching a comprehensive review of the $3 billion E-Rate program.
“Over the last several years—and especially during COVID—many schools dramatically increased screen time for kids, with many students now swiping for hours every day,” he said.
“Research has now been pouring in that America’s experiment with heightened screen time in schools may be related to the negative educational outcomes we are now seeing in classrooms across the country—from declining academic performance to diminished reading comprehension skills.”
Carr said that while parents can supervise screen use and monitor internet access at home, parental controls do not extend in the same way to their children’s classrooms and libraries.
Under the FCC’s E-Rate program, eligible schools, libraries, and consortia may apply for discounted eligible telecommunications, internet access, and internal connection services.
The FCC has been subsidizing connectivity to and within schools for almost 30 years, Carr said.
He added that he has rolled back “unlawful COVID-era expansions” such as E-Rate funding for off-campus Wi-Fi hotspots and school bus Wi-Fi, as those programs exceeded the FCC’s “congressional authority and wasted federal funds.”
An initial vote on the proposal will take place on June 25.
In May, the Department of Health and Human Services released the first-ever surgeon general’s warning on the harms of screen use and called on parents to cut excessive screen time for children.
In the warning, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said that while some screen use can have some benefits, the evidence of a range of risks to children’s overall mental and physical health is mounting.
“These negative outcomes are related to harmful use, including use by children with vulnerable medical conditions, along with the ubiquity of devices and features deliberately built into many tech platforms to promote ‘engagement,’ a positive sounding word that, for too many young people, is a path to addiction-like behavior,” he said.
The FCC review also comes against the backdrop of weak national reading scores.
Official federal test results show American children’s reading has not recovered from the lockdown.
By Owen Evans
