This fall, students in the Finnish town of Rihimaki returned to school with backpacks full of books after a decade of government support for the use of laptops and other digital devices in classrooms.
The Finnish public education system has gained a worldwide reputation in recent decades for its good results and willingness to try new teaching methods. Until recently, many schools distributed free laptops to all students, even those as young as 11.
However, Finnish parents and teachers, like elsewhere in the world, are increasingly concerned about the impact of screens on children, writes Reuters.
So Rihimaki, a town of about 30.000 residents 70 kilometers north of Helsinki that has stopped using most paper textbooks in high schools since 2018, is trying something different to start this school year: It's going back to pencils and paper.
"Young people use phones and digital devices so much these days that we didn't want the school to be one of those places where kids just stare at screens," said English teacher Maija Kaunonen.
Due to the constant distractions brought by the use of digital devices, many children are restless and too distracted to focus.
"Most of the students were just doing exercises as quickly as possible so they could move on to playing games and chatting on social media," Kaunonen told Reuters.
Across Finland, children's learning outcomes have deteriorated in recent years, prompting the government to plan a new law that would ban the use of personal devices, such as phones, during school hours to reduce children's screen time.
One of Kaunonen's students, 14-year-old Eli Soka, said that she did not always focus on the material when she studied from digital textbooks. "It happened that I wandered off to other sites," she said.
Eighth-grade students Miko Mantila and Inka Varo said that their concentration has improved since they returned to learning from books.
"Reading is much easier and I can read faster from books," said Mantila, although she added that writing is easier on digital devices.
"And when you have to do homework late at night, it's easier to fall asleep when you're not looking at the device," Varo said.
Mina Peltopuro, a clinical neuropsychologist working with the city to successfully implement the change, said total screen time should be kept to a minimum - Finnish teenagers currently spend an average of up to six hours a day looking at screens - because excessive use of digital devices it carries physical and mental risks, such as eye problems and increased anxiety.
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