The Screens Experiment Has Failed Our Kids — It's Time to Bring Back the Textbook

Paul W. Bennett from The Aristotle Foundation’s new report confirms what parents have been seeing at the dinner table for years. We’ve traded coherent learning for distracted scrolling, and now even Sweden is reversing course.

Why This Matters Right Now

For 15 years, school boards across Canada have poured billions into laptops, tablets, and “digital-first” classrooms. The promise? Better engagement, better outcomes.

The reality, according to the research Bennett compiles, is the opposite. Here are the key points every parent in London and area should know:

The Key Findings

1. The billions bought us nothing — or worse

• 99% of U.S. teachers report their schools provide devices to students.

• Students average 98 minutes a day on screens in class alone.

• Despite this saturation, there is little evidence digital tools improved achievement — and mounting evidence of a negative relationship.

2. Kids are “gaming and scrolling” their way through class

• Studies suggest students working online spend up to 39 minutes of every hour off-task.

• Teachers struggle to keep order while students flip between tabs, some educational, many not.

3. Paper beats screens for actual learning

• An experimental study of nearly 6,000 students in Germany, Ireland, and Sweden had half take the PISA test on paper, half on computer.

• Students underperformed on the computer versions, in the UK, the gap equated to half a year of additional learning for paper-based test-takers.

4. The highest-performing countries never left textbooks

• Singapore, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan still provide standardized textbooks, and consistently top PISA and TIMSS rankings.

• Meanwhile, we’ve handed our kids fragmented links and handouts instead of a coherent, sequenced body of knowledge.

5. Sweden is already reversing course

• Once a global leader in digital-first education, Sweden concluded excessive screen use contributed to declining literacy.

• Since 2023, they’ve reintroduced printed books, and students themselves welcomed them back.

6. Kids know it too

• In Naomi Baron’s research, 4 out of 5 students prefer print for longer texts, and 94% say they concentrate better reading in print.

• A good textbook beats a pile of handouts, links, and websites every time.

What Textbooks Actually Do

Screens fragment. Textbooks integrate. Bennett’s point is simple and powerful: a well-organized textbook “knows when to be silent.” It:

• Organizes knowledge into a logical sequence

• Allows sustained concentration free of notifications

• Supports note-taking and reflection

• Doesn’t cause eye strain, sleep disruption, or addiction

• Engages parents in the learning process

The digital world delivers disconnected facts. A textbook delivers a package of information, properly integrated, with space to think.

The Sunk-Cost Trap

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: school boards are locked into digital systems because they’ve already spent so much. It’s a classic sunk-cost dilemma, and our kids are paying the price, measured not in dollars but in diminished attention, comprehension, and performance.

Bennett calls it plainly: “Screens and overdependence on edtech are causing harm to the current generation of students.”

What actions will I take if elected as your trustee? I will promote the increased use of printed textbooks and work to decrease screen time. While technology is beneficial, physically holding a book has a notable effect: it requires no power or advanced electronics. It's always accessible to the reader. This may not occur immediately, but if we take the initial step as an effort to progress toward our goal, I believe we will observe positive outcomes.

Source: Concerned Parents Association of London and Area (CPAL)