The studies on the consequences of the misuse of screens among minors are devastating and, in the absence of an institutional response of guarantees, some families have begun to organize themselves. In Tolosa, a Basque town of 20,000 inhabitants, a group of parents have managed to get the municipality to respond collectively to this problem. The latest example is the initiative that has led businesses in the town to announce on their windows that their telephone is available for anyone who wants to use it in case of emergency or unforeseen circumstances, a gesture that aims to counteract one of the excuses that bring forward the purchase of the first mobile phone.
Before, these families have managed to socialize the problem, organizing talks and conferences; they have agreed and disseminated a decalogue for responsible use of screens; and have managed to install in the three schools of the municipality a dynamic that leads families to sign a commitment, if they so wish, according to which they agree not to buy their children’s first mobile phone during the agreed period (usually it is renewed or not on a semi-annual basis).
This small revolution aimed at putting a limit on the use of screens among minors has its origin in the concern of several groups of parents, of the same generation, who coordinated in the three schools in Toulouse. They decided to act together and formed the group Altxa Burua (Raise your head). Orkatz Goenaga, father of three sons and daughters aged between 13 and 10, is one of the people who participated in this group: “We were clear that training and awareness were the first step. Families needed to be aware that screens, cell phones and social media are creating weight problems. The first initiatives were focused on raising awareness”.
These dynamics led to the drawing up of a first decalogue aimed, basically, at families who have already taken the step of buying a mobile phone for minors, a basic document that has made it possible to spread awareness in the municipality. “We are not against mobile phones, what worries us is misuse”, says Goenaga. In any case, this group also detected that there was a huge gap between the age recommended by experts for the first mobile phone, 16, and the age at which many minors actually have it, between 9 and 13 years. At this point, they saw that many families give in to a series of repeated arguments (“the rest of my friends already have it”, “what do I do if something happens to me or I’m late?”…) or to the simple insistence of minors.
From this reading was born the contract that the families of the school centers of the municipality sign, if they so wish (at the moment, in the sixth grade of primary and 1st of ESO), and also the latest initiative that has reached the shops of the municipality : “We came up with the idea of ??involving businesses, so that, in case of need, they would allow minors to use the phone. They are fully involved, as is the City Council. We have nothing but words of thanks. It’s about getting into the idea of ??shared care”, adds Goenaga.
Shops that allow minors – and anyone – to use their phones are installing a sticker in their windows with the slogan “You can use ours”, a brand that also makes the debate surrounding the problem visible. The goal is, basically, to raise awareness among families and prevent them from being forced to wage war on their own against a problem that is causing significant problems, from disorders related to attention span, hyperactivity and, in general, mental health, up to access to inappropriate content. There is also concern about everything that minors are giving up doing, in relational, intellectual or physical activity, to spend between three and eight hours every day with their eyes glued to screens.
