Democracy Dies in DarknessStudent attention spans, redistricting and Ted Turner, in readers’ eyes.May 15, 2026 at 3:25 p.m. EDTYesterday at 3:25 p.m. EDT(iStock)In her May 3 letter, “I’m a teacher. ‘Edutainment’ won’t solve the deeper problem.,” Diane B. Norton observed, “The fourth-grade students I teach today are much less focused and attentive than those I taught 15 years ago.” She correctly stressed that “if parents want their children to be able to focus, they need to spend meaningful chunks of time focusing on them. Put down your phone. Get your laptop off your lap and replace it with a child and a book. Talk to your children in restaurants and teach them how to behave rather than handing them the panacea of a phone to play games on.”