Tech Intentional Schools: Why More Screens Are Failing Kids with Emily Cherkin

📋 The Ruckus Report Quick take: Schools didn't gradually adopt tech — they surrendered to it. This episode is a wake-up call for leaders ready to reclaim learning, relationships, and childhood from screens. 🎓Meet Your Fellow Ruckus Maker Emily Cherkin , M.Ed., The Screentime Consultant, is leading the fight for a Tech-IntentionalTM childhood. Emily works with schools, families, policymakers, and advocacy organizations to ensure the future of education prioritizes skills, safety, and relationships over screens, EdTech, and A.I. Emily is an author, speaker, consultant, and associate professor of public policy at the University of Washington. She is also co-chair of Fairplay's Screens in Schools Action Network and the lead plaintiff in a class action lawsuit against one of the largest EdTech companies in the world. Emily is also the creator of the UnPlug EdTech Toolkit. 🌱 Breaking Down the Old Rules In this episode, Emily Cherkin challenges traditional education paradigms: 🧰 Key Insight : EdTech = Innovation What's broken: Schools assume more devices = better learning. The shift: Question the role of Tech through a child development lens. Impact: Leaders prioritize cognition, focus, and real engagement over screen time. 🧰 Key Insight : Convenience Over Relationships What's broken: Grade portals, emails, and AI replace human conversations. The shift: Bring back friction — phone calls, dialogue, real connection. Impact: Stronger trust with families and deeper student-teacher relationships. 🧰 Key Insight : Teach Tech Early and Often What's broken: Giving young kids constant access to devices in the name of "preparation." The shift: Later is better. Less is more. Skills before screens.. Impact: Students build communication, resilience, and critical thinking first. 🗣️ Quotable Ruckus "If Tech is doing the thinking, your students aren't!" – Emily Cherkin 🧩 Your Do School Different Challenge Ready to implement these ideas? Start here: Tomorrow: Audit one tech tool on your campus — ask: Is it effective, safe, and necessary? This Month: Reintroduce one human-centered practice (phone calls, in-person feedback, discussion-based learning) This Semester: Build a campus-wide "tech intentional" philosophy rooted in relationships and skill development 🔗 Connect & Continue 🎯 Get the full episode transcript here 👩🏻‍💻 Follow Emily Cherkin: 💻 Website: 😎 The Unplug EdTech ToolKit 🤝 Emily speaking to UK Parliament: 📕 Book: Solution-Judgment-Free-Becoming- Tech-Intentional/dp/B0CB9JS5KB Instagram: @thescreentimeconsultant LinkedIn: @emily-cherkin Facebook: @thescreentimeconsultant Youtube: @thescreentimeconsultantllc6072 BlueSky: @emilycherkin.bsky.social First Fish Chronicles: Unplug EdTech, Save Democracy 📌 Ruckus Makers Don't Just Listen — They Act If education ain't a bit disruptive, then what are your students really learning? This show isn't about doing school better. It's about Doing School Different — and joining a growing movement of bold, creative school leaders who reject legacy models and reimagine what's possible. 🧠 Four Ways We Can Help You on Your Do School Different Journey 📬

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Tech Intentional Schools: Why More Screens Are Failing Kids with Emily Cherkin is an episode from The Better Leaders Better Schools Podcast: Leadership Insights | Create Winning Cultures | Focus on the Essential | Lead with Courage & Integrity | Principal Radio | School Administrator | Danny "Sunshine" Bauer by Daniel Bauer.

This episode is 39:29 long.

This episode was published on Apr 22, 2026.

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