Sweden's Educational Reversal and the Neurocognitive Cost of Digitalised Childhood

Authors

  • David Aphkhazava PhD, Professor, University Unilevel, Tbilisi, Georgia. Orcid: https://orcid.org/0000- 0001- 6216-64
  • Maia Nozadze PhD, Professor, University of Georgia, Tbilisi, Georgia
  • Akaki Sarishvili Professor, University Unilevel, Tbilisi, Georgia
  • Nina Inauri Assistant Professor, Tbilisi State University (TSU), Tbilisi, Georgia
  • Nino Chichiveishvili MD, University Unilevel, Tbilisi, Georgia
  • Manana Makharadze Prof. David Agmashenebeli University of Georgia, Tbilisi, Georgia.
  • Maia Berodze Assistant Professor at Caucasus International University, Tbilisi, Georgia
  • Mzia Tsiklauri PhD, Affiliated Professor of the Medical Programs of Gr.Robakidze University, Microbiology, Immunology, Virology, Infection Control. Invited Professor of the Medical Programs of Alte University, Tbilisi, Georgia. Invited Professor of the Medical Programs of Caucasus International University, Laboratory Medicine, Tbilisi, Georgia. Member of the Georgian Immunologists Association, Member of the Accreditation Council of the Quality Development, Center of the Ministry of Education of Georgia
  • Nodar Sulashvili MD, PhD, Doctor of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences In Medicine, Invited Lecturer (Professor) of Scientific Research-Skills Center at Tbilisi State Medical University; Professor of Medical and Clinical Pharmacology of International School of Medicine at Alte University; Professor of Pharmacology of Faculty of Medicine at Georgian National University SEU, Associate Affiliated Professor of Medical Pharmacology of Faculty of Medicine at Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani University; Associate Professor of Medical Pharmacology at School of Medicine at David Aghmashenebeli University of Georgia; Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Pharmacology Direction of School of Health Sciences at the University of Georgia. Associate Professor of Pharmacology of Faculty Dentistry and Pharmacy at Tbilisi Humanitarian Teaching University; Tbilisi, Georgia; Orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9005-8577.
  • Giorgi Margvelani Prof. European University, Tbilisi, Georgia.
  • Nino Maziashvili Associate Professor, University of Georgia, Tamar Gagoshidze Neuropsychology Center, Tbilisi, Georgia
  • Lolita Shengelia PhD, Invited lecturer of Georgian National University, Tbilisi, Georgia; Invited lecturer of Georgian American University, Tbilisi, Georgia
  • George Maglakelidze PhD, Professor, University of Georgia, Tbilisi, Georgia
  • Ilia Atanelishvili Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA

Keywords:

Sweden, educational policy reversal, digitalised childhood, reading literacy, neurocognitive development

Abstract

In 2023 the Swedish Government, supported by the Swedish National Agency for Education (Skolverket), announced an unprecedented redirection of public-school policy: hundreds of millions of kronor were allocated to restore printed textbooks as the primary pedagogical medium, a national mobile-phone restriction was enacted in primary and lower-secondary classrooms from 2026 onwards, and the prior "one-to-one digital" strategy was formally re-described as a partial failure. Sweden's reversal is not an isolated administrative gesture; it coincides with a measurable drop in reading literacy on the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2021 and a persistent downward drift on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2022, and it echoes converging neuroscientific evidence that extensive screen exposure restructures children's developing brains at the molecular, cellular, and network level. This article reviews the Swedish policy reversal in its socio-political context and synthesises current evidence on how four major gadget categories — smartphones, tablets, laptops, e-readers, televisions, and dedicated gaming consoles — differentially alter reading comprehension, attentional control, sleep, mood, and structural neurobiology in children and adults. We map molecular mechanisms including dopaminergic reward de-sensitisation, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) suppression of synaptic plasticity, hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis dysregulation, and circadian melatonin suppression, and contrast their effects on the developing and the mature brain. The synthesis supports a graded risk hierarchy in which passive smartphone scrolling and high-tempo action gaming during sensitive windows of cortical maturation confer the largest documented cognitive cost, while static e-reader text and educational television carried under controlled conditions appear comparatively benign. By framing Sweden's "books and pens" decision as an evidence-consistent response to a measurable neurocognitive burden, this review contributes to the scientific basis for educational technology policy.

Published

2026-08-03

How to Cite

David Aphkhazava, Maia Nozadze, Akaki Sarishvili, Nina Inauri, Nino Chichiveishvili, Manana Makharadze, Maia Berodze, Mzia Tsiklauri, Nodar Sulashvili, Giorgi Margvelani, Nino Maziashvili, Lolita Shengelia, George Maglakelidze, & Ilia Atanelishvili. (2026). Sweden’s Educational Reversal and the Neurocognitive Cost of Digitalised Childhood. Scientific Results, (14). Retrieved from https://ojs.publisher.agency/index.php/SR/article/view/9113

Issue

No. 14 (2026): Scientific Results

Section

Biological Sciences

License

Creative Commons License

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