Primary school children in Madrid will be banned from using laptops and tablets in classrooms to protect their mental and physical health.

Madrid’s regional government has said it is removing devices out of concern for children’s mental wellbeing and the impact of addiction to screens and exposure to inappropriate material online, promising instead a return to traditional teaching methods.

Emilio Viciana, Madrid’s regional education minister, said on Thursday that the misuse of computers and tablets was affecting children’s health and at the root of “mental issues such as depression”.

He also said numerous studies have shown that “the ability to read and write does not develop equally when working on a screen as opposed to paper”.