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STORY: In this classroom in Riihimaki, Finland, the students are going "old school..."

Ditching their laptops and tablets for pen and paper.

It’s part of an initiative by the town, located some 44 miles north of Helsinki, as Finnish parents and teachers have become increasingly concerned over the impact of screens on children.

Finland's public education system has gained global renown for its good results in recent decades and its readiness to try new teaching techniques.

Many schools until recently gave laptops for free to all students as early as age 11.

But across Finland in recent years children's learning results have been slowly eroding.

Riihimaki had since 2018 stopped using most books in middle schools.

“The total amount of time should be minimum, so not hours spending in front of a screen, but something less."

Minna Peltopuro is a clinical neuropsychologist working with the town on the change.

"Brains are very vulnerable with multitasking and especially when you are this young age. So they cannot manage well.” // "You are doing math in computer and then you go to check Instagram, are there any messages? And then you come back to math and then you go to Snapchat and then you come back to math..."

Finnish teenagers currently stare at screens for up to six hours per day on average.

Peltopuro says excessive digital use comes with both physical and mental risks, such as eye problems and growing anxiety.

The Finnish government is planning new legislation banning the use of personal devices such as phones, during school hours.

Fourteen-year-old Elle Sokka says the screens can be an issue.

"Maybe when we used the Chromebook more, sometimes I would drift off to different websites. Maybe I didn’t always focus on the essential things."

English teacher Maija Kaunonen says she's happy about the change in Riihimaki.

"And I do think that it has sort of made young people concentrate more during lessons and there are less distractions.”