Mount Kisco, N.Y. United States – October 2, 2026 – Off the Beam Press today announced the release of Beyond the Panic: Screen Time, EdTech, AI and the Future of Education, the first book by Dr. Andrew A. Taylor, Director of Technology and Data Privacy Officer for a Westchester County, N.Y., public school district. The book is available now on Amazon.
As phone bans spread and headlines warn of an “anxious generation,” Taylor brings what the debate has been missing: the view from inside the schools. He is no EdTech cheerleader. As his district’s Data Privacy Officer, he vets the apps and platforms that want access to student data, and turns many of them away. Drawing on sociologist Stanley Cohen’s theory of moral panic, he argues that today’s alarm is real in feeling but misdirected in aim, and that fear-driven policy risks leaving students unprepared for a world where intelligence is abundant. Worse, he warns, blanket restrictions can widen the digital divide, hitting marginalized students hardest..
“Our children are entering a world filled with intelligent machines,” Taylor said. “Panic simply hands them a ban and mistakes it for judgment.”
Beyond the Panic is built for parents, educators, communities, and policymakers. In its three parts, Human by Design, When Intelligence Is Abundant and Collaborative Conversation, Taylor takes on Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation and Jared Cooney Horvath’s The Digital Delusion directly, weighing what the research actually shows against the headlines it generated.
“The Anxious Generation diagnosed real pain. Then it prescribed the wrong medicine,” Taylor said.
Two features set it apart: Taylor’s story of raising three daughters through the smartphone era, and a middle section written in the voice of LUMEN, an AI, with the book closing on a candid dialogue between author and machine. In a debate usually conducted about AI, Beyond the Panic lets the AI speak.
The result is neither cheerleading nor alarm. It is a practical guide for families, teachers and school boards deciding what comes next. It replaces the question of how much screen time with a better one: what kind of people we want technology to help our children become.
“Every generation panics about the new thing in its children’s hands,” Taylor said. “The real question isn’t whether kids use technology. It’s whether we design experiences that teach them to use technology to become more human, not less.” This is the Human by Design principle Taylor outlines in the book.
The book’s introduction and free discussion resources for parents and educators are available at www.BeyondThePanic.com. Districts, PTAs and professional learning groups can arrange bulk orders, book studies and author talks by contacting gobeyondthepanic@gmail.com. Taylor is available for interviews.
Book website: https://beyondthepanic.com
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HKDX899B
About the Author
Dr. Andrew A. Taylor is Director of Technology and Data Privacy Officer for a public school district in Westchester County, New York. He has spent 30 years in education, leading technology and innovation in schools. He writes and speaks on screen time, EdTech, leadership, and artificial intelligence in education. Beyond the Panic is his first book. He is the father of three daughters.
About Beyond the Panic
Beyond the Panic: Screen Time, EdTech, AI and the Future of Education (Off the Beam Press, 2026; ISBN 979-8234180797) examines technology’s growing role in education, addressing screen time, artificial intelligence and digital learning. Drawing on research, personal experience and dialogue, the book encourages balanced discussions about technology and student development.
Media Contact
Company Name: Beyond the Panic
Contact Person: Dr. Andrew A. Taylor
Email: Send Email
Country: United States
Website: https://beyondthepanic.com
Press Release Distributed by ABNewswire.com
To view the original version on ABNewswire visit: School District Technology Leader, with 30 yrs in Education, Challenges the Screen-Time Panic in New Book, Beyond the Panic: Screen Time, EdTech, AI, and the Future of Education
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