PRIOR to the use of computers and calculators in the classroom, everything had to be written.

This meant pupils had to think, reason and use their imagination before putting pen to paper.

The more these abilities are used, the more neural connections form within the brain which, in turn, increases the ability to think, reason, imagine, learn and ask complex questions.

Computers and calculators now dominate the classroom, but machines doing the work have reduced the intellectual work needed by the pupil. Thus, fewer neural connections form within their brain which, over the past 20 years, has created school-leavers who, through their actions, clearly have a reduced ability to think, reason, imagine or to question the consequences of their own actions and those of their peers.

If Schools Secretary Ed Balls really wants to improve standards in the school system, and in doing so make society more stable, then instead of increasing the use of technology in the classroom, he should ban calculators from schools and vastly reduce the use of computers in the classroom.

Pupils would then have to start using their brains once more.

CT Riley, Spennymoor, Co Durham.