The Danish way to digital balance: What can we learn from Dumbphones in schools?

This Post was written by Arne Mathiesen, founder of Dumbphone.dk

Meet the Danish organization leading a technology revolution in schools

All over the world schools and families are beginning to reanalyse the effects that smartphones are having on young people. In Denmark, some schools and families have chosen to take on a new technology challenge, rather than trying to manage the distraction and potential harm of smartphones, they are removing them entirely.

At Dumbphone.dk, we have seen the shift and benefits with our own eyes. This project has allowed for parents, young people and schools to come together and lean on each other throughout the process. We have been partnering with parents, students and schools for three and a half years and have helped introduced dumbphones to over 2500 people. While some may see this as a step-backward or permanent activity (replacing smartphones with dumbphones), we see it as a step towards a more balanced, present and purposeful relationship with mobile technology, with the aim to provide an eye-opening experience for teens and children on a temporary basis.

Smartphones are taking over teens’ lives

As smartphones become more central in teens’ lives, Dumbphone.dk was created to offer a healthier alternative. With the program, we encourage groups of parents to take on dumbphones for their children/teens and remove the smartphone from them for a temporary period of time. We have a selection of HMD feature phones on the website to help shorten the decision-making process for those wanted to get involved. HMD (Human Mobile Devices) recently conducted a global study¹. This study was intended to further highlight the problem of teens/children and smartphones. This study found that 52% of children feel addicted to their screens and that children are spending 4.5hrs (on average) on devices.

With several governments around the world officially taking a stand, including the United Kingdom and Australia, we at Dumbphone.dk want to lead a smartphone revolution.

What are dumbphones?

We don’t believe that smartphones or other technology are the enemy, but we do believe in using the right tool for the right moment. Dumbphones, also formally known as feature phones, are intended to serve the purpose of simply being a phone. It’ll sport essential functions like calling and texting and in some cases, a basic camera. For young people especially, these devices can be a transformative experience, whether they have or haven’t used a smartphone before. These types of phones are designed to keep you connected to loved ones without the mindless scrolling.

Dumbphones in Danish schools

Denmark, like many other Scandinavian and Nordic countries, has a trend of handing over smartphones extremely early, sometimes as early as the age of 5 or 6. This is something that we at dumbphone.dk are experiencing and parents are becoming increasingly worried about – they want to make it so this is not the case for their children.

Smartphones in the hands of teens and children has been a topic of contention in Denmark without a solution. The focus of the dumbphone initiative is fewer distractions and more presence. Dumbphone.dk is working directly with parents, educators and operators – offering easy-to-use, stripped back mobile phones. We are creating environments for technology educations that is age appropriate and puts emphasis on real-world connection as well as digital connections.

The main program that takes place in schools is our ‘Temporary Course for Teenagers’ which is intended for teens ages 15-16 years old. The program involves the teens switching from their smartphone to their dumbphone for a short and intensive period (typically anytime between 10-30 days). The goal of this program is not about removing the smartphone forver, but giving these teenagers a profound first-hand experience of life without it – allowing them to reflect on how big of a role their smartphone has in their life and if they can reduce it.

The core reason why the project has worked really well in Denmark is because the primary place we've conducted them is at schools that are closed communities (like boarding schools). All the students attend the school, live at the school, and eat at the school. It's a fantastic place and a great opportunity for students to unplug.

Why should the rest of the world pay attention?

In Denmark, we’ve seen how well this works when communities act together, creating clear expectations and shared values around tech use. A real example of a great result from one of these experiments was that over 50% of the student's participation (95 students) felt less anxious five days into the ten-day experiment. It was amazing to see the progress in such a short period, swapping smartphones for dumbphones works!

In our secondary project, we are aiming to delay the introduction of smartphones for as long as possible by addressing the parental concern of parents giving smartphones to children too young. We encourage parents to participate as a group and help hold eachother accountable. This method is easily executed worldwide, with our hope to bring our project within schools to other schools around the world.

So far, we have worked with over 2500 people, sometimes in groups as big as 200. Here’s what we have learnt:

• Simply removing phones all together is not a real solution
• We need to set the ‘norm’ of not giving smartphones to children
• Some children who took part in the experiment wanted to keep their dumbphones
• Awareness of smartphone harms and effects is being raised
• Perceived improvement of sleep and digital anxiety
• Parents who haven’t yet handed over a smartphone to their children are in the best position to implement change

The biggest benefit for students is related to sleep; a huge number of students mention sleeping better during the experiment. The primary reason we believe students sleep better is because when they're not spending 5 hours a day on their smartphones, they end up doing other activities together. These are typically activities that are stimulating in a more tiring way (like sport and other physical activity). It could also be because their stress levels are lowered. Furthermore, anxiety and racing thoughts, and all such anxiety-related symptoms, suggest to me that they decrease during these periods.

If you're going to do these kinds of experiments elsewhere in the world, you should look for these types of communities or schools where students live there. It has become apparent that many other countries are becoming aware of the negative effects of smartphones on children. With several documentaries and studies showing the increasing dangers and negative side effects for children, it is important that we step in before it is too late. We have found a method that helps, and the world should pay attention to that.

Not sure which dumbphone to start with?

As part of our program, we at dumbphone.dk offer HMD feature phones for purchase for those who want to be involved. HMD has a great array of ‘dumbphones’ for those who want to permanently switch from a smartphone, temporarily switch from a smartphone or try a dumbphone for their children.

The choice is highly personal and primarily comes down to a few factors:

1. Whether you want a camera or not,
2. The physical look and design
3. A flip phone vs. a classic bar style.

The underlying software on most of these HMD and Nokia models is nearly identical. For those who want a non-camera option, the HMD 105 4G is an excellent and affordable choice, which I use myself.

The list of other favourite feature phones include:

• The HMD 105 4G
• The HMD Barça 3210
• The HMD Barbie™ Phone
• The HMD 2660 Flip
• The Nokia 2660 Flip
• The Nokia 3210

HMD Fusion X1: The smartphone that starts as a dumbphone

For those parents who want one or two extra features that a dumbphone doesn’t carry or wants to invest in a phone that will grow with their child into their last teenage years. The HMD Fusion X1 offers a great compromise between the smartphone and the dumbphone. Dumbphone.dk has been working on digital detox initiatives for years, and it’s been great to collaborate with HMD. The launch of the HMD Fusion X1 is a strong step forward.

It must be stated clearly that I think that HMD Fusion X1 is a smartphone which can, in principle, do everything other smartphones can. Its key feature is a form of enhanced parental control that allows it to start as a simple device. What also stands out to us at dumbphone.dk is that —no apps, no distractions. It starts off as something close to a classic brick phone, allowing families to gradually add features, rather than trying to strip features away later, as is often the case with parental controls. This is a thoughtful, human-first design. Once you reach the point where a smartphone feels like the right choice, the phone comes out of the box with nothing on it—no apps, no distractions. It starts off as something close to a classic brick phone, allowing families to gradually add features, rather than trying to strip features away later, as is often the case with parental controls. While it can be a more sensible choice than a standard smartphone if a smartphone is deemed necessary, we still strongly recommend delaying the introduction of any smartphone for as long as possible.

You can read more about the HMD Fusion X1 and it’s features that are intended to be in the hands of teens here: https://www.hmd.com/en_int/blog/hmd-fusion-x1-smartphone-with-parental-controls

or if want to get involved yourself, you can find more information here: https://dumbphone.dk/

About the Author: Arne Mathiesen

Arne is a Danish entrepreneur and social innovator specializing in creating impactful educational experiments that promote digital and experiential learning. His groundbreaking work involves guiding students through a unique 10-day experience where they replace their smartphones with so-called “dumbphones.” This initiative has been implemented across 22 schools, involving over 2,300 students, yielding fascinating and meaningful results. The results from these experiments consistently reveal remarkable insights. Students report improved sleep, reduced stress, greater ease in completing homework, and stronger social connections with friends.

Arne’s mission is to develop practical solutions that encourage digital awareness among young people and their families. He focuses on fostering thoughtful approaches to delaying smartphone adoption in children, often by introducing alternatives like dumbphones. His work has gained extensive media coverage in Denmark, including features on major national platforms, and has also been recognized internationally by BBC World News and BBC London Radio.

Through his work, Arne seeks to inspire conversations and reflections about technology and well-being.