Why the kids who need it most can’t afford to miss out
While some kids look on passively at the creators of the Internet, other young people are out there having their voices heard. Every student needs this opportunity, because every employee will need this critical skill set.
Here’s something I can’t stop noticing: kids are consuming the hell out of technology. At restaurants, family gatherings, even on my own couch, I see students glued to their screens, scrolling through content that’s been crafted by…other kids. Kids their age who already have the skills to edit videos, design graphics, or tell a story in a way that captivates an audience. And it makes me wonder: what about the ones who don’t? What about the kids who’ve never had the chance to use technology as more than a delivery system for someone else’s creativity?
That’s why I keep coming back to the U.S. Department of Education’s distinction between Passive Use and Active Use. Passive use is the endless swiping, tapping, and liking—the digital equivalent of sitting on the couch eating chips straight from the bag. Active use is where the magic happens: creating, collaborating, problem-solving, building something that didn’t exist before. And the reality is, the students who don’t see that kind of use modeled at home are the ones who need schools to make it happen most.
Because here’s the deal: in school, the stakes are low and the opportunities for feedback are high. Kids can experiment, fail spectacularly, and try again—without it costing them a job or a grade point average that follows them forever. If we don’t give them those reps now, then we’re setting them up to be perpetual consumers while a smaller group of peers keeps producing the content that shapes culture, conversation, and opportunity. It’s the difference between watching TikToks and knowing how to make the one that everyone else watches.
But here’s the twist: not all screen time is created equally. Parents sometimes (understandably) see their child staring at a school-issued device and lump it all into the same bucket of “too much screen time.” Yet what happens in a classroom where teachers are leveraging these tools for active use is light-years away from what happens when kids are left to scroll endlessly at home. When done right, that screen time is richer, more dynamic, and frankly, more essential to a student’s growth than ever before. At the same time, that comes with responsibility on our end: if teachers are simply allowing kids to consume passively in a 1:1 environment, then we’re not holding up our end of the bargain either.
So here’s my challenge—to educators and parents alike: we need to stop treating all screen time as the same. We need to make space for active use, for creativity, for problem-solving. Parents, trust that when teachers push your kids to create with technology, it’s not “extra screen time,” it’s practice for their future. And educators, let’s be honest with ourselves—if we aren’t using technology to amplify learning, to give kids agency and voice, then we’re just part of the problem. The world doesn’t need more scrollers. It needs more creators. And every kid deserves the chance to be one.