This Finnish town is ditching screens for paper in schools
After a decade of state-backed promotion of laptops and other digital devices in the classroom, pupils in the Finnish town of Riihimaki are headed back to school with backpacks full of books. It's part of a push against digitalization - and the impacts it's having on youth. - REUTERS
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00:00In this classroom in Rihimaki, Finland, the students are going old school, ditching their
00:06laptops and tablets for pen and paper.
00:11It's part of an initiative by the town, located some 44 miles north of Helsinki, as Finnish
00:16parents and teachers have become increasingly concerned over the impact of screens on children.
00:23Finland's public education system has gained global renown for its good results in recent
00:27decades, and its readiness to try new teaching techniques.
00:32Many schools until recently gave laptops for free to all students, as early as age 11.
00:38But across Finland in recent years, children's learning results have been slowly eroding.
00:43Rihimaki had since 2018 stopped using most books in middle schools.
00:48Nina Peltopuro is a clinical neuropsychologist working with the town on the change.
01:05are very vulnerable with multitasking, and especially when you are this young age.
01:16So they cannot manage well.
01:19You are doing math in computer, and then you go to check Instagram, is there any messages,
01:26and then you come back to math.
01:27And then you go to Snapchat, and then you come back to math.
01:31Finnish teenagers currently stare at screens for up to six hours per day on average.
01:36Peltopuro says excessive digital use comes with both physical and mental risks, such
01:41as eye problems and growing anxiety.
01:44The Finnish government is planning new legislation banning the use of personal devices, such
01:49as phones, during school hours.
01:51Fourteen-year-old Elle Sokka says the screens can be an issue.
01:59Maybe when we used the Chromebook more, sometimes I would drift off to different websites.
02:03Maybe I didn't always focus on the essential things.
02:07English teacher Maija Kaunonen says she's happy about the change in Rihimaki.
02:11I do think that it has sort of made young people concentrate more during lessons, and
02:22there are less distractions.