Area man says school requires homework to be done on tablets, concerned son is addicted to electronics

A Barnesville man wants to turn back the clock. He says, his son is addicted to electronics and he wants his son to do his homework, on paper. But he claims, the school isn't making it easy. That's why he called our Whistleblower Hotline.

It’s a dilemma for the 21st century.

"I got to be a watchful parent, especially with the internet," says Barnesville Father of a 7th Grader, Dane Steuber.

Dane Steuber lives in Barnesville. His son is a 7th grader at Barnesville High School. Steuber doesn't like a policy within the Barnesville School District. He says, it requires students to do all their homework on tablets.

He tell us, it’s enough. His son is addicted to electronics and he wants it to stop.

"When it's hard for him to watch a TV show because he's more interested in watching a YouTube video, but still has to have both of them on or doesn't want to wake-up on time because he stayed up way too late watching the tablet, or hiding it," says Steuber.

But the school district is a paperless one. On top of that, he thinks schools are becoming too revolved around electronics, period.

"Any reference he needed, he was supposed to watch a YouTube video, that he explained to me, she (teacher) has shown in class that day. It seems to me, that there are a lot less interaction from the teachers, in actuality, they are just putting footage in front of these children," says Steuber.

And so Monday, his son will be attending a different school just a few miles south of Barnesville, Rothsay.

"They don't have any problem printing out homework that he can bring home," says the Steuber.

He says, that school also admits, a lot of their learning is done on tablets too. We reached out to the superintendent of Barnesville Public Schools to talk about their policies, but did not hear back. But this father is not done with this yet, he's taking his concerns to the Minnesota Department of Education.

One other point, the father we talked to tells us, not only does he not want his son to use a tablet for homework, but he was asked to pay for it. He says a deposit is required, regardless of if the student uses it at home.