Minneapolis Teacher Bans Tech, Reading Confidence Jumps 49%

What if the key to better reading wasn't newer technology, but no technology at all?

Maureen Mulvaney, an AP Literature teacher at Washburn High School in Minneapolis, decided to find out last year. Frustrated by plagiarism, distracted students, and plunging literacy rates, she tried something radical: she banned phones and laptops from her classroom entirely.

Every assignment would be done with pencil and paper. No exceptions.

Parents loved the idea, but students weren't thrilled at first. On day one, most quit after writing just half a page by hand.

Mulvaney started small, with just ten minutes of silent reading and handwriting daily. She compared it to lifting weights: you don't start with 80 pounds.

The transformation happened faster than anyone expected. In September, before the experiment began, only 46 percent of her students felt confident about their reading ability.

By February, that number jumped to 95 percent.

Students who could barely write half a page were now filling five or six pages. A remarkable 79 percent said it was easier to organize their thoughts on paper than on a screen.

"It was honestly really fun," student Rue Falbo told local news. "I enjoyed not being on tech and I think that everyone connected a little bit more."

Khalil Omar discovered he preferred writing by hand. "On a Chromebook, I might be tempted to maybe look something up," he explained. "But when I'm on paper, I feel like I can use my writing for me."

Another student put it plainly: "When we use paper, there's no temptation to use AI. I have to force myself to come up with my own ideas. So I do."

The Ripple Effect

Mulvaney's success offers hope to educators nationwide struggling with declining literacy and AI-enabled cheating. Her experiment challenges the decades-old assumption that laptops are indispensable learning tools.

What's most encouraging is how quickly the results appeared. The cognitive effects of constant screen time aren't necessarily permanent or impossible to reverse.

Schools everywhere are banning phones, but Mulvaney went further by removing laptops too. Her students can't game, shop, or chat with AI during class time.

The message from her classroom is clear and hopeful: kids haven't changed, but education has, and we can always return to what works.