A Teacher Removes All Screens from the Classroom and Literacy Rates Improve

In five months, the percentage of students who feel confident in their reading abilities has risen from 46% to 95%. The change, in an AP Literature class at Washburn High School in Minneapolis, had a single cause: the disappearance of phones and laptops from desks, replaced by paper and pen.

The rule was imposed by Maureen Mulvaney, a literature and English teacher, who banned all devices and mandated that all assignments be done by hand. The experiment began after she faced widespread plagiarism, distracted students, and declining literacy rates. On the first day, most of the class would stop after half a page of handwritten work; by February, almost everyone could write at least two pages, with some able to write five or six.

Alongside the reading data, 79% of students reported that organizing their thoughts is easier on paper than on a screen. The effects were also felt outside the classroom: fewer distractions, more conversations among peers, and a reduced reliance on Google and AI tools at home.

Mulvaney described the handwriting training approach as a gradual progression. "I told the kids it’s like lifting weights: you don’t start with eighty pounds right away," she explained. The point, in the words of the students, is the removal of short-cuts. "On the Chromebook, I might be tempted to look something up, find the definition of a word. But when I write on paper, I feel I can use writing for myself," shared student Khalil Omar. Another was more direct: "When we use paper, there’s no temptation to resort to AI. I have to push myself to find my ideas. And that’s what I do."

One of Mulvaney’s observations concerns the asymmetry in public debate. In discussions about devices in classrooms, phones often come under fire, while laptops remain off the hook. Yet, the teacher notes, students can also play, shop, and engage with AI on those screens.

A Movement from Governments The case of Washburn is not isolated. Several governments are limiting smartphones in schools and reinvesting in paper books: in March 2026, Denmark banned school smartphones, investing millions in paper books, while Sweden, the Netherlands, Finland, Australia, and Canada are at various stages of moving toward a ban.

The framework Mulvaney surrounds her experiment with, in the op-ed where she described it, is less technological than one might think. "The kids haven’t changed. It’s the school that has changed, and we must return to what works."