EDITORIAL
A growing number of studies from Nordic schools show that banning smartphones can have the many positive impacts. Education researchers, teachers and parents see that banning or limiting smart phones can significantly improve the learning process for children
Norway – According to the Norwegian Institute for Public Health, smartphone usage affects the well-being and learning among children and adolescents is a concern for schools, parents, and policymakers. They point out that banning smartphones can have some other specific positive impacts:
- They can significantly decrease health care take-up for psychological symptoms among girls.
- Decrease bullying among both genders.
- Improve girls’ GPA, and increase the likelihood of attending an academic high school track.
These effects are larger for girls from low socio-economic backgrounds. Hence, banning smartphones from school could be a low-cost policy tool to improve student outcomes.
Sweden – Since Swedish children went back to school after the summer break, many of their teachers have been putting a new emphasis on printed books, quiet reading time and handwriting practice, and devoting less time to tablets, independent online research and keyboarding skills.
The return to more traditional ways of learning is a response to politicians and experts questioning whether Sweden’s hyper-digitalised approach to education, including the introduction of tablets in nursery schools, had led to a decline in basic skills.
Sweden’s minister for schools, Lotta Edholm, who took office 11 months ago as part of a centre-right coalition government, was one of the biggest critics of the all-out embrace of technology.
“Sweden’s students need more textbooks,” Edholm said in March. “Physical books are important for student learning.”
Denmark – The Danish Ministry of Education is supporting individualized approaches where each school creates its own smart phone policiy, citing their effectiveness in maintaining focus and calm. Debates continue about the balance between minimizing distractions and enhancing digital literacy, underscoring the nuanced impact of mobile phone policies in education. Additional insights can provide a deeper understanding of these dynamics. The result is that Danish schools have decentralized mobile phone policies, with 88% implementing their own rules. Schools involve parents in policy-making to align with family expectations, Parental involvement plays a pivotal role in these policies, guaranteeing that rules align with family expectations and values while fostering a collaborative atmosphere between schools and homes.
Finland – Finland is preparing a law this autumn that will limit the use of mobile phones in schools by giving teachers more powers to stop students using mobile phones during lessons.
“The aim is to give students some peace of mind in school, while also strengthening the powers of teachers and principals,” Anna-Maja Henriksson, the education minister, said. The use of phones during lessons are proving to be a big distraction for both students and teachers, she further noted, especially in secondary schools.
Photo: Patrick Münnich
