When Croton-on-Hudson’s youngest students returned to school earlier this month, a familiar — and increasingly controversial — classroom tool was missing from their desks: iPads.

A new districtwide policy prohibits the devices in kindergarten through second grade with few exceptions. Instead, teachers are emphasizing traditional, hands-on learning through activities like games, puzzles, and pen-and-paper assignments.

The screen-free classrooms arrived after a grassroots effort from local parents in Croton-on-Hudson, an affluent, highly educated suburban village on the Hudson River, 40 miles north of Manhattan.

Formed in July 2025, the Croton Community Collective has amassed more than 400 local members, built a network of parents who’ve tried to give their children a screen-free childhood, reshaped the school board, and secured several changes limiting the use of educational technology in instruction

It’s part of a larger push by the community, where many parents have pledged to delay giving their children smart phones. Volunteers have stocked scores of local businesses with boxes of books and magazines, so that kids have a screen-free way to pass the time while waiting for a haircut or sitting at a diner. And over 100 families have installed landlines in their homes to help children stay connected sans cell phones.