Stop using computers in schools

Today’s youth are very adept at using computers. This is not a bad thing in itself, but enough is
enough. In 2015 the BBC wrote article saying that children aged 5-16 spent, on average, 6 hours or
more per day in front of a screen (Wakefield, 2015); in a more recent article in the Telegraph, Science
Editor Sarah Knapton says that the time that can be spent in front of a computer each day without
danger is 257 minutes, or roughly 4,5 hours (Knapton, 2017). This means that the average teenager
spends 90 minutes more on screens than is healthy.

Part of why this problem exists is because schools are based around IT these days. Instead of using
encyclopaedias, students are encouraged to look for information online; instead of writing with a pen
and paper, they type their notes and papers on computers; instead of printed worksheets with
exercises in math, teachers use websites where they collect math problems for the students to solve.
Not only does this make the students sit stationary for long periods of time, it also hampers things
like motor skills and the systematic thinking needed to find the correct word in a printed
encyclopaedia (now you only have to type the word into a search engine).

In Sweden, we have truly taken it too far. The Local reported in 2013 that a school in Stockholm has a
compulsory Minecraft class (Gee, 2013), as if the student laptops were not already used mostly for
games which results in school results dropping in comparison to other OECD countries’ (Unknown
journalist, 2013).

What I suggest is this: Stop using computers in schools. It is important for our youth to get into the
habit of reading books, using their hands and it is very important for them not to sit stationary for as
long as they do.

JP, 2017

Sources

Gee, O. (2013, 9 January). Swedish school makes Minecraft a must. Thelocal.se. Retrieved 2017-08-25
from https://www.thelocal.se/20130109/45514

Knapton, S. (2017, 13 January). 257 Minutes: the time teens can spend on computers each day
before harming wellbeing. The Telegraph. Retrieved 2017-09-01, from
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2017/01/13/257-minutes-time-teens-can-spend-computers-
day-harming-wellbeing/

Unknown journalist (2013, 3 December). Sweden tumbles in global schools ranking. Thelocal.se.
Retrieved 2017-08-15 from https://www.thelocal.se/20131203/sweden-slides-in-global-education-
rank-pisa-students-schools

Wakefield, J. (2015, 27 March). Children spend six hours or more a day on screens. BBC. Retrieved
2017-08-27, from http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-32067158