Is Your School's Tech Diet Healthy?

Cellphone bans and screen-time limits only go so far. In this NAESP article, technology director Alana Winnick argues that healthy digital habits start with the adults, and offers three questions that help you judge any tool by what it supports, what it replaces, and what it displaces.

In this article for Principal magazine's September/October 2026 issue, Winnick argues that phone bans and screen-time caps are temporary fixes. Lasting digital wellness comes from adults modeling healthy habits and from asking what a tool supports, replaces, or displaces, rather than simply counting minutes of use.

• Start with the adults. Constant texting, notification checking, and treating every message as urgent teach students that interruption is normal, so leaders should examine their own habits first.
• Ask three questions of any technology. Does it provide access? Does it enhance learning or make something possible that wasn't before? And what is it replacing or displacing, such as sleep, movement, reading, boredom, conversation, or outdoor time?
• Set communication norms. Her district defined urgent, important, and informational messages, matched each to a channel, and clarified after-hours expectations to ease a culture of constant availability.
• Focus on what students do. Creating, designing, coding, and collaborating differ from passively clicking through repetitive tasks. The SAMR framework (Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, Redefinition) helped the district evaluate tools, though she calls it imperfect. Moving a worksheet onto a screen deserves a second look unless the screen adds real value, such as text-to-speech or captions that improve access.
• Partner with families. Parent workshops on device management and parental controls drew strong attendance, and a digital detox challenge was framed as family reflection rather than punishment.
• Let students lead. A Digital Wellness Ambassador program, beginning in fourth grade, led staff professional development and created resources for families.

Her suggestions for principals include:

• auditing your own device habits in meetings and hallways;
• writing shared communication norms with staff;
• using built-in tools such as scheduled sends, daily digests, and focus modes to reduce interruptions;
• scheduling unplugged learning experiences; and
• partnering with the PTA on family workshops.

A way to use it with your mentoring partner: pick one tool or routine in your building and apply the three questions together. Then compare notes on one habit each of you wants to change in how you use your own devices at school.

Read the full article: "What's a Healthy School Tech Diet?" by Alana Winnick, NAESP, Principal, September 15, 2026.