Sweden is set to ban mobile phones in schools from the next academic year as part of a broad reversal on the use of screens in classrooms.
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The future of a beloved dog statue on a New York warehouse is up in the airBroken speaker? Finicky zipper? Anticonsumerist Repair Cafes urge you to fix it instead of pitch itAt the Kaaba during Hajj, a photographer captures sense of unity and devotionIn Brazil’s Cerrado region, Indigenous fire practices reshape wildfire strategyAccessorize with earplugs at this summer's concerts so you can enjoy more music in the futureSome people tape their mouths shut at night.
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The country’s centre-right coalition government has since 2023 pursued a policy that prioritizes more reading time and less screen time, particularly among preschool students, favouring books and other more traditional learning tools. Since 2023, the Scandinavian country’s center-right coalition government has pursued a policy prioritizing more reading time and less screen time, particularly among preschool students, by favoring books and other traditional learning tools.
Lawmaker Joar Forsell, chairperson of the Swedish parliament’s education committee, said officials have seen a decline in the general ability to read and write in Sweden, especially among younger students.
“We’re rolling the screens back because we believe that books and more traditional ways of learning are better for kids,” Forsell said.in schools internationally after countries outfitted their campuses with laptops, tablets and learning apps for their students. Classrooms have become saturated with screens and alooks set to implement a similar ban to Sweden, and a law restricting use of mobile devices in schools in Finland came into effect last August.
Other countries from Spain to South Korea have taken a variety of steps that range from a ban of mobile phones in classrooms to limits on screen-based homework. , the second-largest school district in the U.S., has said it will ban screens until second grade, require daily caps for screen time per grade, ban YouTube and require an audit of all education technology contracts.
Tech-savvy Sweden, which is home to music streamer Spotify and telecoms giant Ericsson, has one of the most digitally advanced education systems in the world. But the mobile ban aims to foster learning environments with fewer distractions by building on restrictions on phones already independently implemented by many schools in the nation of over 10 million.
Alongside the ban, the government this year set aside 555 million Swedish krona as part of a new grant for purchasing textbooks and teachers’ guides.was triggered by falling reading levels. In the 2022 Program for International Student Assessment, the latest study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 24.3% of Swedish ninth graders did not reach a basic level of reading comprehension. That figure is only slightly better than the European Union average of 26.2%.
Magnus Haake, an associate professor of cognitive science at Lund University in southern Sweden, said learning with physical materials engages the motor sensory part of kids’ brains and “boosts the whole system. ”about being better role models on use of screens, like having the same “screen-free zones” at home as their kids do. At the Malmö Borgarskola high school in southern Sweden, mobiles are already banned during classes.
Students place their handsets in a box — nicknamed a “Mobile Hotel” — and pick them up at the end of class.
“When you have a phone, there’s always something to look at,” student Melina Sallahi, 17, said. “It’s less of a distraction. ” Classmate Vasilije Stjepanovic, also 17, said apps like games or social media are “more fun than learning,” adding that students can learn better by taking away the phones. At the same time, every student is given a laptop computer.
But Deputy Headmaster Patrik Sander said students are now discouraged from using them in class, unless teachers say so.
“Nowadays, we see the push going in the other direction,” Sander said. “We have pushed back, learning that writing with your hands and a pencil helps you remember. ” Starting last summer, Swedish children under 2 years old could use only nondigital materials such as books, and preschoolers in general face no requirement to use digital learning tools. A new curriculum to prioritize book-based learning is expected in 2028.
Not everyone in the Nordic nation supports the shift away from digital learning. Trade association Swedish Edtech Industry said in a report that 90% of all future jobs are expected to require digital skills. A lack of this knowledge could cause a skills shortage among young Swedes, a lack of innovation in the public sector and even increased unemployment, the report warned.
Peter Carlsson, CEO of Malmö-based startup Imvi Labs, which uses virtual reality headsets to train brain-eye coordination in children and adults, said not all screens disrupt learning and some software is “critical” to help children with learning or reading difficulties. But at Malmö Borgarskola, there is little concern over learning digital skills. One morning in May, students clutched textbooks and discussed Russian history as they prepared for end-of-year exams.
“Everyone uses digital devices during their free time, so I don’t think that’s something that should be taught in school,” student Melina Sallahi said. “It’s nothing I’m worried about. ”
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