Why Schools Are Returning to Printed Books
Posted by Frog Publications on 2nd Nov 2026
Are Screens Doing More Harm Than Good in Our Classrooms? Why Schools Are Returning to Printed Books
As concerns grow about screen exposure, attention, sleep, and childhood development, researchers and educators are reconsidering the role of technology in schools—and rediscovering the value of books, handwriting, and hands-on learning.
At a Glance: Why Schools Are Rethinking Digital Learning
After decades of increasing technology use in classrooms, schools around the world are beginning to reconsider the impact of screens on children's learning and development. Six European countries—including Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, France, and Italy—have introduced or explored measures to reduce certain types of digital device use in schools, while Sweden has invested heavily in printed books.
Research raises important concerns about excessive screen exposure, including its potential effects on sleep, attention, eye health, and developing self-regulation skills. A major international study involving more than 100,000 children across 35 countries found that children with access to books at home were significantly more likely to meet early literacy and numeracy benchmarks. Other studies have identified reading comprehension advantages for printed materials under certain conditions.
The bigger question: Are we prioritizing technology over the way children learn best? As educators reconsider the balance between digital instruction and traditional learning, printed books, handwriting, and hands-on activities are receiving renewed attention.
For more than two decades, technology has transformed education. Computers, tablets, interactive learning programs, and digital textbooks have become common in classrooms, including those serving our youngest students.
These technologies promised personalized instruction, greater engagement, immediate feedback, and improved academic achievement.
But an important question deserves more attention:
Just because children can learn on a screen, does that mean screens are the best way for them to learn?
The discussion is no longer limited to reading comprehension or test scores. Researchers, pediatric specialists, and educators are examining how prolonged screen exposure may affect children's developing brains, sleep, eyesight, attention, and behavior.
Meanwhile, several European countries are introducing restrictions on digital devices in schools, and Sweden has made substantial investments in printed books.
The growing discussion raises a fundamental question: Have schools become too dependent on digital technology without fully considering the educational and developmental consequences?
1. Why Are Some Schools Returning to Printed Books?
For years, digital education was often presented as an inevitable part of modernizing classrooms.
Digital textbooks increasingly supplemented or replaced printed materials. Online assignments became routine. Interactive learning programs offered students opportunities to practice academic skills through screens.
Now, some education systems are reassessing that approach.
Sweden's Investment in Physical Books
Sweden provides one of the clearest examples.
After years of expanding digital education, the Swedish government introduced initiatives emphasizing physical textbooks, reading, and traditional instructional materials.
In 2025, the government allocated 480 million Swedish kronor to support the purchase of books for schools and preschools, estimating that the funding could provide approximately 2.4 million books.
The initiative reflects a broader effort to improve reading skills and increase children's access to printed literature.
Sweden has also moved to reduce reliance on digital tools in early childhood education.
These changes do not mean Sweden has eliminated classroom technology. Instead, the country is reconsidering the balance between traditional learning experiences and digital instruction.
The significance is not simply that Sweden is purchasing more books. It is that policymakers are questioning whether expanding technology should automatically be considered educational progress.
2. Six European Countries Are Reconsidering Classroom Technology
Sweden is not alone.
Norway, Finland, Denmark, France, and Italy have also introduced, recommended, or pursued policies intended to limit certain forms of digital device use in schools.
While their approaches differ, they reflect broader concerns about digital distractions, concentration, student well-being, and the appropriate role of technology in education.
Norway: Education authorities have recommended restrictions on personal mobile phones in schools, with particular attention to younger students. The country has also placed greater emphasis on evaluating digital learning materials and balancing screen use with other instructional methods.
Sweden: The government has invested in printed books and taken steps to reduce reliance on screens in preschool education, emphasizing foundational reading and writing skills.
Finland: Legislation introduced in 2025 restricts the use of mobile phones and other mobile devices during lessons, with exceptions for authorized educational and health-related purposes.
Denmark: Schools have adopted restrictions on student mobile phones, and national authorities have considered additional measures to reduce digital distractions.
France: Restrictions on personal mobile phones and other connected devices aim to reduce distractions and support the school environment.
Italy: Restrictions on students' smartphone use have expanded across school levels, including limitations on using personal phones for educational activities.
These policies should not be interpreted as six countries abandoning all educational technology.
Some primarily address smartphones, while others also reconsider digital instructional materials and the balance between screens and printed resources.
Nevertheless, the direction is noteworthy.
For years, schools focused heavily on increasing children's access to digital devices.
Now, policymakers are increasingly asking when access should be limited.
The European Commission's 2026 report, Mobile Phone Bans in Schools Across the EU, documents growing concerns and different approaches being adopted by EU education systems.
3. A Study of More Than 100,000 Children Highlights the Importance of Books
One particularly relevant study provides additional evidence supporting the importance of physical books in early childhood development.
Published in the Journal of Global Health in 2019, the research examined UNICEF survey data involving 100,012 children between 36 and 59 months old across 35 countries.
The study, titled Association Between Availability of Children's Book and the Literacy-Numeracy Skills of Children Aged 36 to 59 Months, examined whether access to children's books at home was associated with early literacy and numeracy development.
Researchers assessed foundational abilities including recognizing letters, reading simple words, and identifying numbers.
What Did the Researchers Find?
Children who had access to at least one children's book at home were substantially more likely to meet early literacy and numeracy benchmarks than children who had no books available.
After adjusting for factors such as household wealth, maternal education, children's ages, and geographic location, the researchers found that children with at least one book available were approximately 89% more likely to meet the measured literacy and numeracy benchmarks.
The researchers also found that approximately 51.8% of children in the surveyed countries had at least one children's book available at home.
These findings highlight the importance of access to reading materials during the earliest years of development.
They also reinforce the value of environments where books encourage reading, conversation, and interaction between children and caregivers.
An Important Research Distinction
The study did not directly compare learning on screens with learning from printed books. It also did not measure memory retention or establish that digital learning causes poorer academic outcomes.
Instead, it identified a strong association between the availability of children's books and early literacy and numeracy development.
Because the research was observational, it cannot establish that access to books alone caused the differences.
Nevertheless, the findings strengthen the case for ensuring that physical books remain accessible to children, particularly during their foundational learning years.
The researchers also emphasized that books can provide opportunities for meaningful interaction between children and caregivers.
The presence of books matters, but so does what adults and children do with them.
4. A Child's Brain Is Not an Adult's Brain
One of the most important considerations in evaluating digital learning is the difference between a developing child and an adult.
Children are not simply smaller adults.
Throughout childhood and adolescence, the brain continues developing abilities involving attention, impulse control, emotional regulation, planning, and self-management.
The prefrontal cortex, which plays an important role in executive functioning, continues maturing into early adulthood.
These developmental differences matter when children are exposed to highly engaging digital environments.
Why Digital Rewards Can Be Especially Compelling
Many digital products incorporate features designed to encourage continued participation.
These may include points, badges, streaks, animations, rapid feedback, and progressively challenging activities.
Such features can motivate learners, but they can also encourage repeated interaction.
Children, whose self-regulation skills are still developing, may find highly stimulating digital experiences particularly difficult to disengage from.
Adults are not immune to these influences. However, adults generally have more developed executive functioning skills that can help them recognize distractions and regulate their behavior.
Educational software is not identical to social media or entertainment gaming. Nevertheless, it is reasonable to examine how digital engagement features influence children's attention and learning habits.
Keeping a student engaged with a screen is not necessarily the same as helping that student understand and retain information.
This distinction is particularly important in elementary education, where children are still developing the ability to concentrate and complete challenging tasks without constant stimulation.
5. Can Digital Technology Encourage Addictive Behavior?
Concerns about compulsive digital use have become increasingly important as technology occupies more of children's daily lives.
Many digital experiences provide rapid stimulation, immediate responses, and repeated opportunities for rewards.
For some individuals, certain digital activities can become difficult to control.
The World Health Organization recognizes gaming disorder in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11).
The condition involves a persistent pattern of impaired control over gaming, increasing priority given to gaming, and continuation despite significant negative consequences.
This diagnosis does not mean educational screen use constitutes an addiction, nor does it suggest that every child who enjoys digital activities will develop problematic habits.
However, it demonstrates that certain forms of digital engagement can become harmful.
Schools should therefore consider not only whether students enjoy digital activities but whether the activities support healthy attention, self-regulation, and meaningful learning.
A child spending extended periods interacting with a screen is not necessarily evidence of educational success.
6. Blue Light, Sleep, and Children's Health
Digital devices also raise physiological concerns beyond academic performance.
Electronic screens emit blue-enriched light, which can influence the body's natural sleep-wake cycle.
Exposure to bright light during the evening can interfere with melatonin production and delay the onset of sleep.
This effect can occur in both children and adults.
However, adequate sleep is particularly important during childhood.
Sleep contributes to learning, memory consolidation, attention, emotional regulation, and physical development.
When children experience insufficient or disrupted sleep, they may struggle with classroom concentration, behavior, and academic performance.
What Does Blue Light Actually Do?
It is important to distinguish established findings from common misconceptions.
Research supports concerns about evening exposure to bright, blue-enriched light and its effects on sleep timing.
However, ordinary blue light exposure from consumer screens has not been demonstrated to cause permanent damage to the eyes.
The better-established concerns involve sleep disruption, prolonged viewing, eye discomfort, and screen habits that interfere with healthy routines.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends avoiding screens for approximately one hour before bedtime.
Schools should also consider that educational screen exposure adds to the time children may already spend using devices for homework, communication, and entertainment.
Screen time does not stop affecting a child's daily routine simply because it happens during school hours.
7. Screen Time, Eye Strain, and Nearsightedness
Extended screen use can affect visual comfort.
When concentrating on a digital device, children may blink less frequently and maintain their focus at a fixed, close distance for long periods.
This can contribute to dry eyes, headaches, blurred vision, and visual fatigue.
Pediatric guidance commonly recommends regular breaks from close-up screen viewing, including the 20-20-20 rule: every 20 minutes, look at something approximately 20 feet away for 20 seconds.
There are also broader concerns about nearsightedness, or myopia.
A 2015 systematic review and meta-analysis involving 25,025 children identified an association between near-work activities and increased odds of myopia.
Near work includes reading, writing, and looking at screens at close distances.
Researchers have also identified reduced outdoor time as an important factor in childhood myopia.
These findings do not establish that screens alone cause nearsightedness.
Genetics, outdoor activity, viewing distance, and other environmental factors also contribute.
Printed books also involve near work, so replacing a screen with paper does not eliminate the importance of visual breaks.
Nevertheless, prolonged close-up screen use deserves attention as part of children's overall visual health.
8. Are Screens Affecting Children's Attention and Concentration?
Learning requires sustained attention.
Children must listen, follow directions, read carefully, think through problems, and persist when tasks become difficult.
These skills are still developing throughout elementary school.
Digital environments can introduce additional demands on attention, especially when students encounter notifications, animations, unrelated applications, or frequent opportunities to switch between activities.
Printed books and paper-based assignments generally provide a more contained learning environment.
Students can focus on a physical page without navigating additional digital features.
This does not mean printed materials automatically guarantee attention or that all digital programs are distracting.
However, the distinction matters for children who are still developing their ability to manage competing demands independently.
What UNESCO Found
In 2023, UNESCO published its Global Education Monitoring Report: Technology in Education—A Tool on Whose Terms?
The report examined technology's role in education worldwide.
UNESCO highlighted the limited availability of robust, independent evidence demonstrating the educational benefits of many technology applications.
It also raised concerns about digital distractions, implementation costs, and the importance of human interaction in learning.
The report emphasized that educational technology should be adopted because it improves instruction, not simply because it is available.
This raises an important question for elementary educators:
Does a particular digital program help students concentrate and understand more deeply, or does it primarily keep them interacting with a device?
9. Do Students Understand More When Reading on Paper?
One of the strongest areas of research supporting traditional learning materials involves reading comprehension.
A 2018 meta-analysis published in Educational Research Review examined studies comparing reading comprehension across printed and digital formats.
The researchers found an overall advantage for paper-based reading, particularly when students read informational texts or worked under time constraints.
A separate 2018 meta-analysis published in Computers & Education also found a comprehension advantage for reading on paper.
These findings matter because students regularly read informational material to learn about science, history, mathematics, and other academic subjects.
When students are reading to learn new information, understanding and retention are more important than simply completing a passage.
However, the evidence is not entirely uniform.
A 2024 meta-analysis examining 37 experimental studies found no statistically significant overall difference between paper and digital reading comprehension.
The findings varied depending on the readers, texts, and reading conditions.
Taken together, the research suggests that reading format can matter, particularly under certain conditions.
Schools should not automatically assume that replacing a printed book with a digital version creates an identical learning experience.
10. What About Mathematics and Written Practice?
The debate extends beyond reading.
Elementary students must develop number sense, computational fluency, mathematical reasoning, and problem-solving skills.
These abilities require carefully sequenced instruction, meaningful practice, and feedback.
Writing mathematics on paper allows students to organize calculations, draw diagrams, demonstrate reasoning, and review their work.
Teachers can also examine students' written strategies to identify misunderstandings.
Digital mathematics programs can provide useful features, including immediate feedback, adaptive practice, and interactive explanations.
However, research does not establish that replacing all written mathematics work with digital activities produces superior educational outcomes.
The focus should remain on whether students understand mathematical concepts and can apply them independently.
Completing a digital activity and mastering a mathematical skill are not necessarily the same thing.
11. What Happens When Screens Replace Other Childhood Experiences?
An important question involves not only what children do on screens but also what they may do less often because of screen time.
Children need opportunities for physical activity, outdoor play, face-to-face conversation, creative activities, handwriting, reading, and hands-on exploration.
When screen use becomes excessive, it can compete with time available for these experiences.
This concern becomes especially relevant when students spend substantial portions of the school day on devices and then continue using screens for homework and entertainment.
For adults, technology may be necessary for professional responsibilities.
For children, however, physical activity, social interaction, imaginative play, and varied experiences are essential parts of development.
Not all screen use displaces healthy activities, and the effects depend on the activity, its duration, and the surrounding environment.
Still, schools should consider how much digital exposure is genuinely necessary and whether some learning activities would be better delivered through physical materials.
12. Are We Introducing Technology Too Early?
The question of technology in education is particularly important for younger children.
Elementary students are developing foundational academic and behavioral skills that will influence their future learning.
They are learning to read independently, write clearly, solve problems, maintain attention, follow instructions, and manage frustration.
These skills develop through instruction, repetition, feedback, and interaction with teachers and peers.
Technology can support some of these activities, but the existence of a digital alternative does not establish that it is developmentally preferable.
An instructional approach appropriate for an adult learner may not be equally appropriate for a six-year-old.
Schools should therefore consider digital learning decisions through the lens of childhood development rather than convenience, novelty, or expectations about technological advancement.
13. Should Schools Return to More Traditional Learning?
The research does not establish that all digital education is harmful or that every traditional instructional method is superior.
However, it provides legitimate reasons to question heavy dependence on digital devices in elementary classrooms.
Several findings deserve particular consideration:
- Some studies identify comprehension advantages for paper-based reading.
- Access to children's books is associated with stronger early literacy and numeracy development.
- Evening screen exposure can interfere with healthy sleep patterns.
- Certain digital activities can encourage compulsive behavioral patterns.
- Prolonged screen viewing can contribute to eye strain and discomfort.
- Children are still developing attention, impulse control, and self-regulation.
- Excessive screen use can compete with physical activity and social interaction.
- Strong independent evidence of educational benefits remains limited for many technology applications.
These considerations support a more cautious, developmentally informed approach to classroom technology.
Printed books, handwriting, teacher-led instruction, classroom discussion, and hands-on learning should not be dismissed as outdated simply because digital alternatives exist.
They remain valuable parts of education.
Conclusion: Childhood Development Should Come Before Digital Convenience
Technology has transformed education, but technological advancement and educational improvement are not necessarily the same thing.
Children are still developing the neurological, physical, emotional, and academic abilities that will shape their futures.
Their learning environments should reflect those needs.
The movement toward printed books in Sweden, restrictions on personal devices across Europe, and growing research into the effects of screen exposure provide an opportunity for schools everywhere to reconsider their approach.
Rather than asking how much technology schools can introduce, perhaps the more important question is how much technology students actually need.
Children do not need more screen time simply because technology makes it possible. They need learning environments that support healthy development, meaningful instruction, sustained attention, and strong academic foundations.
Sometimes, that may mean closing the laptop, opening a book, and putting pencil to paper.
Research and References
1. Manu, A., Ewerling, F., Barros, A. J. D., & Victora, C. G. (2019). Association between availability of children's book and the literacy-numeracy skills of children aged 36 to 59 months: Secondary analysis of the UNICEF Multiple-Indicator Cluster Surveys covering 35 countries. Journal of Global Health, 9(1), 010403.
https://doi.org/10.7189/jogh.09.010403
2. European Commission. (2026). Mobile phone bans in schools across the EU. Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture.
3. Government of Sweden. (2025). 480 million Swedish kronor for the purchase of books for preschools and schools.
4. Delgado, P., Vargas, C., Ackerman, R., & Salmerón, L. (2018). Don't throw away your printed books: A meta-analysis on the effects of reading media on reading comprehension. Educational Research Review, 25, 23–38.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2018.09.003
5. Kong, Y., Seo, Y. S., & Zhai, L. (2018). Comparison of reading performance on screen and on paper: A meta-analysis. Computers & Education, 123, 138–149.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2018.05.005
6. UNESCO. (2023). Global Education Monitoring Report: Technology in Education—A Tool on Whose Terms?
https://gem-report-2023.unesco.org/
7. World Health Organization. Addictive behaviours: Gaming disorder.
https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/addictive-behaviours-gaming-disorder
8. American Academy of Pediatrics. Give Your Child's Eyes a Screen-Time Break: Here's Why. HealthyChildren.org.
9. Huang, H. M., Chang, D. S. T., & Wu, P. C. (2015). The association between near work activities and myopia in children: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PLOS ONE, 10(10), e0140419.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0140419
10. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2024). Social Media and Adolescent Health.
https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/27396/social-media-and-adolescent-health
11. Which reading comprehension is better? A meta-analysis of the effect of paper versus digital reading in recent 20 years. (2024). Telematics and Informatics Reports.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772503024000288
