The use of smart devices is strictly limited in schools in many European nations, including Sweden, France, and the Netherlands.

Helle Hallik, the chief expert in general education and youth policy at the Ministry of Education and Research, however said that while the excessive use by young people of smartphones is also prevalent in Estonia, the ministry does not deem an across-the-board ban necessary.

According to Hallik, it is important that each school make its own decisions regarding its internal regulations.

She said: "We have unique schools, and their approach to the digital world varies. Some schools believe that digital devices should not be allowed for students below 7th grade, while others think they can be available from the 1st grade."

Another consideration is the high use of tech in schools in Estonia in any case.

Hallik said that the use of interactive tools varies between teachers.

"There has to be an internal agreement within each school. It would prove very difficult to implement a general ban without excluding anyone," the official said.

"If our desire is for a society with digitally competent individuals, we cannot talk about blanket bans. Alongside fostering digital competencies, it is vital to teach students how to behave responsibly in the digital sphere," Hallik added.

One school principal, Enn Ööpik, of the Mart Reiniku Kool, in Tartu, told ERR that he has observed groups spending time on their phones during breaks, but equally groups of schoolchildren playing outside, playing ballgames or table tennis – even sometimes using a smartphone as a bat in that case.

There aren't many problems with the use of personal devices during class, he added, though noted he often does see tired students in the mornings. "The issue seems to be that the school day is just one part of the day. I can't go to someone's bedside or take away their device during the night," he said, adding that it is essentially the responsibility of every adult who is around young people at work, or if they are parents, to set a healthy example.

"Do we even realize and monitor how much time we adults spend on our devices ourselves? Is what we're doing really necessary, or are we just trying to flee something, and looking for alternatives?"

The Mart Reiniku school allows elementary age students to use smartphones during the school day, but only with the teacher's permission, and only for related learning activities.

From the fifth grade onward (ages 10-11), students can use their smartphones during their breaks, while during class these must be stowed away in bags and kept on silent mode.

Kerttu Vau, a ninth-grade student at the Tartu school, told ERR that she sometimes notices a phenomenon where, if she wants to chat face-to-face but all her friends are on their phones, she ends up on her phone too.

To break the cycle, Kerttu said she sometimes suggests alternative activities to her friends, "I tell my friend that I want to talk to them and ask if they want to do something that doesn't involve a phone. Then, we might take a walk or do something else instead."

Even just a short walk or break outdoors helps.

"If I watch TikTok videos during the 15-minute break, I feel like my brain is overloaded by the next class," Kerttu added.

Inger Klesment, a media literacy specialist at the University of Tartu and who organizes digital literacy training for children, has in the course of her work talked to nearly 10,000 children about the internet.

She generally finds that children understand the restrictions set by parents well. One quick solution, she said, is to explore things together.

"Research shows that if parents play these games with their children, watch cartoons together, and explain along the way, the relationships between parents and children improve, as does the child's digital and media literacy," Klesment said.

There is in some other European countries a growing recognition of the importance of supporting parents, providing them with knowledge, advice, and tips on how to protect their children from digital dangers and addiction, Klesment added

In Estonia, there are portals such as tarkvanem.ee and targaltinternetis.ee which have some valuable resources, Klesment reported

Psychologist and family therapist Kätlin Konstabel, who was involved in the Digilaps project, which studied children's internet addiction over a two-year period, said that the state should provide schools with more serious, research-based guidelines on how to manage the digital world, thereby supporting parents.

"The more schools direct children to learn using digital devices, the more they should offer support to both children and families on how to become reasonable, self-managing users," she said.

"It does not seem fair for schools to emphasize digital skills and provide all the opportunities, knowing how difficult it is to get young people off these devices... if schools do not offer any support, it can make it very difficult for parents to set boundaries at home, affecting family relationships," Konstabel added.

Karmen Maikalu, the head of the Estonian association of School Psychologists (Eesti Koolipsühholoogide Liit), emphasized that there is a significant difference between discussing the use of smart devices in education and restricting personal smart device usage during the school day.

According to Maikalu, educating parents is only part of the solution, as schools are responsible for what happens on their premises, and this responsibility cannot be placed on parents.

"Many parents lack the skills to limit their children's use of smart devices, and it's clear that these parents need support from the school. It should also be noted that many parents themselves struggle with smart device overuse. Overuse is an issue for adults as well," Maikalu said, adding that the restriction of personal smart device use during the school day could be a topic for broader societal dialogue, approached with honesty and openness.

The Estonian Health Development Institute (TAI) studied the health behavior of primary school students in 2022 and found that nearly ten percent of the age group in question displayed symptoms of social media addiction. This represents a rise compared with a similar study conducted four years earlier.

A UNESCO report published in July last year provided an overview of global education system monitoring, and urged countries to ban the use of smartphones in schools.

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