It appeared like the one-to-one device program would be the next big thing in the education sector until the idea of moving away from such devices in schools was raised by a few school districts. The devices were initially considered equitable technology tools, but parents and even teachers began pushing back on what screens are actually doing to their students.

On a recent episode of PRN’s Garage Pass Podcast, host Andrew mentioned that his wife, a teacher, was seeing the same shift firsthand. That’s when Michael McDowell, an 18-year Cup Series veteran and father of five, gave his verdict on why.

“Yeah, because they’re realizing the kids are not smarter. We’re actually — I don’t want to say ‘dumber’ is the right way, but they are,” McDowell said.

He also had a personal admission to make since McDowell had already made the call for his own family. When Andrew asked if he was the “homework dad” at home, McDowell framed his answer to reframe the question. 

“No, I’m the principal. That’s what we say in our house. Yeah, so kids are homeschooled, and so my wife is absolutely like the teacher, and I’m the principal. So I only have to go in and regulate; that’s it. I don’t do a whole lot of teaching, just regulating,” he said.

Numbers agree with what McDowell is saying, as the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the most extensive academic yardstick for the country, found that 12th-grade math and reading scores were at an all-time low, as 45% of high school students scored below the NAEP Basic level in math, and average reading scores went lower than 1992 figures.

Acting IES director Matthew Soldner stated: “Scores for our lowest-performing students are at historic lows — continued declines that began more than a decade ago.”

Taking into consideration the global perspective, according to the findings of a 2024 meta-analysis involving 24 studies, note-taking by hand always leads to better results than using computers when compared in grades and information comprehension. So, Sweden, one of the earliest ones to switch textbooks for devices in 2009, has now made a move to change track and reintroduce traditional paper textbooks, finding that the attention span had reduced while no improvement in learning had occurred. And South Korea, too, introduced a classroom device ban in 2025.

McDowell further described the curriculum challenge, involving the volume of options available today, compared to one or two a generation ago. And his family’s solution has been to lean traditional.

“We’re kind of old school, we still get books, because we don’t want them on devices all day long. And there’s some things that they do on devices, but for the most part, like it’s in a textbook and it’s writing it out and it’s doing it like we did, my wife and I, in school,” he added.

The Homeschool Precedent in NASCAR

The most prominent example is three-time Cup champion Joey Logano, who was homeschooled by his mother, Deborah, through his formative years while racing since the age of six. By 19, he became the youngest winner in NASCAR Cup Series history at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in 2009.

Logano once told a Hartford Courant reporter at the time: “I don’t feel like I’m missing anything by not going to school.”

John Hunter Nemechek took a different structure: four-hour daily sessions with teachers, timed to free up his race weekend schedule every Friday. Today, he is a full-time Cup Series competitor. 

So, clearly, if McDowell’s children ever decide to enter racing, they wouldn’t have to be too worried.