Catalan paediatricians recommend restricting mobile phone use as much as possible in compulsory education: infant, primary and ESO. Without saying the word prohibition, they ask in a statement that the device be used in schools and institutes only if the teacher decides to do so for “specific educational purposes” or for “health reasons.” The restriction extends to extracurricular classes.
In the extensive document that the Catalan Pediatric Society has drawn up on the use of digital devices (screens, tablets, video games and mobile phones) that it sent yesterday to paediatricians and the Department of Education to consider their content with a view to regulating the use of mobile phones in schools, and to which La Vanguardia has had access, warns in very detail of the risks they entail for health and the need to regulate it at school and at home.
Pediatricians thus join teachers and family associations who have expressed their concern about the consequences of the digital disruption in the lives of children.
As medical professionals, they warn of the risks and dangers of device exposure at too young an age, to inappropriate applications and games, to excessive exposure times… etc.
And they have prepared a guide on what screen use should be like from the youngest children to teenagers and the reasons that justify all their recommendations. The interest and well-being of the child is at the center of his entire statement prepared with subtle but eloquent language.
The regulation of mobile phones in adolescents is one of the highlights, taking into account the movements of parents who have mobilized to express their concern. Pediatricians address families, advising the delivery of the cell phone when the minor is sufficiently mature and limiting its use in time and applications, proposing schedules with activities without a cell phone, and proposals for activities for the whole family. In addition, they recommend that the minimum age to access social networks be respected. It also considers that parents should have more time to be with their children (allow conciliation) and that technology should be curbed to protect minors.
In the school environment and in educational leisure time they also ask for restrictions. In this sense, the department has already announced that it will prohibit it in primary school and that it will allow this issue to be debated in institutes, half of which have already regulated it. In any case, it will give a response on the regulation in schools at the end of this month.
“We recommend that the use of mobile phones in educational centers and non-formal education environments be done exclusively for specific educational purposes or for health reasons,” the statement indicates. “This measure aims to promote healthy development, a decrease in emotional distress and mental disorders, a decrease in cyberbullying and not interfere with learning.”
For health professionals, the acquisition of digital skills, an essential learning in the education of children, does not necessarily involve exposure to autonomous devices.
Thus, they advise families to delay screen exposure (nothing before the age of three, not playing with a cell phone before the age of six and moderately after).
They do not recommend the appropriate age to give the cell phone, but they give clues by emphasizing that parents are “the first providers of technology” for their children and that they constitute the first line of protection for the minor. Thus, they point out that the minor, to receive a telephone, has to have certain skills, such as maturity and sufficient digital competence “to be responsible” which is generally acquired “in the last years of adolescence.” In any case, it is worth starting with limited data, parental controls and antivirus protection.
The document advises scheduling non-digital activities, prioritizing schoolwork, extracurricular tasks, domestic tasks and leisure. And write a family digital plan, agreeing on which social networks, age, for what purpose, spaces, situation and time of use. And common password use at the beginning.
They suggest that parents talk about the risks and reaffirm their availability in case the minor finds themselves in an uncomfortable situation. They also highlight the importance of talking “explicitly” about healthy sexual relationships and the problems associated with viewing pornography.
On the other hand, pediatricians are in favor of supervising video game time to avoid compulsive behaviors and observe changes in habits, routines, sleep rhythm, emotional state, academic performance and relationships with peers.
They warn of the risks of early use, excessive use in time, with access to non-recommended applications, without supervision. Excess exposure, with inappropriate content and language. They also highlight the risks of cyberbullying, deception, identity theft, “sexcasting” and “sexextortion.”
By age, they recommend zero screens before the age of three, of any kind. From three to six years old, television or tablet with moderate use and no video games or cell phones, except for calls. From that age onwards, do not leave them alone with the phone and accompany them progressively. No more than 30 minutes a day and not every day.
They also urge adults to be exemplary in using their cell phones moderately and prioritizing activities such as “sleeping, exercising, interacting with friends, playing, being outdoors.”
Likewise, they consider that work-life balance should be improved so that parents have time to raise their children, as well as demanding more ethical behavior from technology companies.