Name: Back to textbooks: Denmark rolls back digital learning • FRANCE 24 English
Uploaded: 2026-01-09T21:01:30.000Z
Duration: 5 min 12 s
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Gerund

At this Copenhagen school, children start their day by placing their phones in a locked box.

Since the beginning of the school year, this has been the rule across Denmark.

No mobile phones or tablets during class hours.

And here, another visible change has taken place.

After a decade of all digital learning, physical textbooks are making a comeback.

I think the biggest issue has been that because we kind of got rid of the books and started using screens instead,

we've noticed that a lot of the kids have trouble concentrating.

So it's pretty easy to swipe with three fingers over to a different screen and have a video game going, for example, during class.

Here, computers are now used sparingly and always under supervision.

That's really, it's like really nice not to have so much screen time

because, like, I really love writing and reading.

A 180-degree turn for [a] country once seen as a digital pioneer,

Teens aged 13 to 18 spend an average of five and a half hours a day on their phones

and their mental health has been worsened, according to the Children's Well-being Commission.

The recommendations of former commission member Christine Raven Lund are at the heart of Denmark's new digital sobriety.

An element of when you spend so much time on social media, as many young people in Denmark do,

then it also takes time away from protective factors.

So I think it goes both in reducing the harm, but

actually also giving up more space to being together in a physical space.

As a result, phones are banned not only in schools, but also in youth centres and sports clubs.

In this athletic club, using a phone is forbidden, even during competitions.

It's like a nice pause from everything that's going on.

You aren't accidentally on your phone too much during practice,

because sometimes you can pick it up to check something and then suddenly you've been there for 10 minutes

and just wasted 10 minutes where you could have been jumping instead.

Myla Valmod was already applying this rule before it became widespread.

When a cell phone enters the room, two things happen.

First of all, the energy drops completely.

And the second thing is that somebody is kind of outgrouped,

which is very bad for a social environment.

In a country that prides itself on being one of the happiest in the world,

the effects of all screens all the time have triggered a collective wake-up call.

Each year, the Headspace association supports more than 11,000 young people

and works closely with youth advisors like Sophie.

She has limited her own screen time to one hour a day

I know from my perspective, my friends have...

I have a lot of friends who have deleted their social media or give themselves a limit on how many hours a day,

maybe even minutes a day, they are allowed to spend on social media.

So I think, definitely because of the awareness that's been put on to the subject.

For two years now, the association has also organised a national No Phone Day to encourage adults to set an example.

10% of the population took part this year

and a quarter of Danes say they've changed their behaviour.

I think we have a huge responsibility as parents and as adults.

I think we have to, yeah, we have to really switch off our phones,

switch off our screens and go out and have conversations, both with each other, but

Reducing screen time and soon possibly restricting access to social networks altogether.

A citizens' initiative led by digital health expert Imran Rashid

has gathered more than 50,000 signatures calling for a ban on TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat for under 15s.

Parliament is set to vote early next year, but

he says the point of no return has already been reached.

The coming generations who are now starting public schools, who are now being brought up,

I mean, they will hopefully have better conditions growing up than the current generation

because they were basically lost in the digital space

and their parents, my generation, we didn't know what to do.

After betting everything on screens, Denmark is going back to basics in its schoolyards,

a paradigm shift that could inspire others.

The European Parliament is now backing a ban on social media access for under 16s across the EU.

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Back to textbooks: Denmark rolls back digital learning • FRANCE 24 English

perspective

obvious

mental

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