Parents opt kids out of school laptops, ask for pen and paper

Parents are forming a loose network teaching one another how to get their kids off school-issued Chromebooks and iPads.

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Julie Frumin broke the news to her 11-year-old son in the minivan on the way home from school.

His laptop was being taken away.

His face lit up. “Really?” he asked, beaming with excitement.

It wasn’t a punishment. It was a victory Frumin had fought hard for. Her third-grade daughter had already opted out of using school-assigned laptops in favor of pen and paper, and her son wanted to follow suit.

The middle schooler had been begging to opt out, citing headaches from the Chromebook screen and a dislike of the AI chatbot recently integrated into it.