This week, two stories look at what happens when rules written far from a classroom land on a teacher’s desk. One guest found guidance that barely mentions the youngest students. The other found a law that took away the exact tool his students needed most. Both raise a question that will sound familiar to any educator: When the rules do not fit, who is responsible for making them work?

Where the Screen Time Guidance Runs Out

A longtime education and technology journalist went looking for what happens once new federal guidance meets an actual pre-K classroom. He found teachers working from advice written for teenagers, not four-year-olds, and building their own approach out of whatever was on hand. Adam Stone talks about what he heard from the people closest to the problem.

One Law, One Classroom, One Missing Tool

A Missouri civics teacher ran a yearlong civic engagement program with his students, right as a new state law changed what they were allowed to carry into class. Dan Clark explains what his students lost access to, and why he thinks the fix lawmakers chose missed the point entirely.

Listen to the episode:

Stories Mentioned in This Episode

Early Childhood Education Teachers Grapple with Screen Time by Adam Stone

The Case Against the Classroom Cellphone Crackdown by Dan Clark

This Week with EdSurge is a weekly podcast from EdSurge. Subscribe to the EdSurge newsletters for more news and analysis on education and technology.