The possibility to ban mobile phones in schools is being explored in Sweden

Among many other countries, the use of mobile phones in classrooms and schools is being actively discussed also in Nordic societies and increasingly connected to declining PISA results. In Sweden, the government now wants to investigate whether it is possible to legislate mobile phones out of schools completely. Associate Professor Marie Nilsberth from the University of Karlstad and co-PI of the project Nordic Basic Schools, was recently interviewed by Dagens Nyheter, the largest daily newspaper in Sweden about the possible outcomes of the ban. In the interview, Nilsberth is sceptical about whether banning mobiles would have a significant influence for students’ learning and concentration in classrooms. She points out that schools in Sweden already have the freedom to define the rules for the use of mobile phones and therefore a ban would not contribute to new means for managing the situation. Instead, Nilsberth emphasizes, the possible problems related to mobile phones could better be managed through educational leadership and discussion, similar to any question related to rules and norms in the classroom.   

In the project Nordic Basic Schools, the role of mobile phones and digital technologies in the construction of hybrid socialities in the everyday life of contemporary schools is being investigated in . Findings so far indicate that use of mobile phones must be discussed more broadly than merely as distractions in schoolwork. In a society where everyone – from grandma to friends and teachers – are connected through the phones, boundaries between life in school and outside have become blurred. Just as life with friends, family and popular culture is co-present during school days through the phones, school life enters the everyday life outside school hours in form of school platforms, homework and contact with school friends through the screens of the mobile phones.