(TNS) — On June 19, Norway’s prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre announced a near ban on the use of generative AI by elementary school students.
The government’s new guidelines, which will be applied for the upcoming school year starting in August, lay out how much AI students should be using given their age and grade level: Students in first through seventh grade (approximately ages 6–13) will be barred from using the technology at school, while students in lower secondary education (ages 14–16) can use the tools with careful teacher supervision. In upper secondary education (ages 17–19), students will learn how to use AI appropriately as they prepare to enter the workforce.
“The most important thing in school is that our children learn to read, write and do mathematics,” Støre said at a press conference, adding that “uncritical use of AI causes students to skip important learning steps.”
Støre’s concerns aren’t unfounded. A recent study by the Brookings Institution’s Center for Universal Education combined focus groups, interviews, and expert opinions to assess the impact of generative AI usage on children, concluding that risks outweigh the benefits. When children turn to AI instead of honing their own thinking skills, the study found, they stunt their own cognitive growth and problem-solving abilities.
Meanwhile, study after study shows the negative impact that even short-term AI use can have on cognitive function among adults, let alone when the same principles are applied to children.
In addition to banning most AI usage in schools, the Norwegian government also announced plans to increase funding for physical books in classrooms, pushing back on a yearslong trend of embracing digital learning tools.
DIFFERENT APPROACHES AROUND THE WORLD
While Norway exercises caution around AI in education, other nations are speeding in the opposite direction.
Just last week, Poland announced its plans to equip 12,000 primary and secondary schools with so-called “AI labs” by the start of the next school year. In addition to laptops, each lab will include a “central unit supporting AI services, network devices, an interactive display, a camera with a microphone and specialized software,” according to the Polish government.
Announcing the plan at a press conference, Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk said students should learn to control AI “rather than it controlling you.”
“The most important task for the young generation will be not to underestimate the threats posed by artificial intelligence and to have a sense of sovereignty over the tools they use,” Tusk added.
Meanwhile in the United Arab Emirates, AI is being mandated to curriculums as early as kindergarten. In 2025, the UAE’s Minister of Education Sarah Al Amiri told Semafor that AI learning would be incorporated in all public schools and some private schools, with approximately 20 lessons planned for each year of school through the 12th grade.
Addressing potential concerns about giving children too much access to technology, Al Amiri said, “Social media is a fact. The [use of] AI is a fact.” The UAE’s new curricular standards, she added, are meant to reengage disinterested students: “I want it to be fun for them.”
A BROADER TREND OF RESTRICTIONS
Beyond the scope of AI specifically, Norway’s move follows a global trend of restricting minors’ access to technology.
In 2024, Norway banned smartphones from its classrooms, leading to improved grades and mental health among students, particularly for young girls. Norway has also announced plans to ban social media usage for children under age 16, following an example set by Australia’s recent ban.
Age verification for social media is also becoming increasingly common, with countries including the United Kingdom working to keep children off of inappropriate platforms. Those processes, though, still leave much to be desired, as there are reports of children bypassing the filters with drawn-on mustaches and other disguises.
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