Catalan paediatricians recommend restricting the use of mobile phones to the maximum in compulsory education: infant, primary and secondary school. Without pronouncing 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 ban extends to extracurricular classes.
In the extensive document that the Catalan Society of Paediatrics sent yesterday to pediatricians and the Department of Education to consider its content with a view to regulating the use of mobile phones in schools and to which La Vanguardia has had access, it is alerted in a very detailed manner of the risks they entail for health and of the need to regulate it at school and at home. The ministry will give an answer at the end of this month, although it has already announced that it will be banned in primary schools and that it will let this issue be debated in high schools, half of which have already regulated it.
“We recommend that the use of the mobile phone in educational centers and non-formal education environments is done exclusively for specific educational purposes or for health reasons”, the statement says. “This measure aims to promote healthy development, the reduction of emotional discomfort and mental disorders, the reduction of cyberbullying and not to 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 devices for autonomous use.
Therefore, families are advised to delay exposure to screens (no exposure before the age of three, no playing with mobile phones before the age of six and moderate after that).
They do not recommend the appropriate age to give the mobile phone, but they give hints and emphasize that parents are “the first providers of technology” for their children and that they constitute the first line of protection for the minor. They also point out that the minor, in order to receive a telephone, must have certain skills, such as maturity and enough digital competence “to be responsible”, which is generally acquired “in the last years of adolescence”. In any case, you should start with limited data, parental control and antivirus protection.
The document advises scheduling non-digital activities and prioritizing school, extracurricular, domestic and leisure tasks. And draw up a family digital plan, agreeing which social networks, age, for what purpose, spaces, situation and time of use. And common use of password at the beginning.
Parents are suggested to talk about the risks and reaffirm their availability in case the child is in an uncomfortable situation. They also emphasize the importance of talking “explicitly” about healthy sexual relations and the problems associated with viewing pornography.
On the other hand, pediatricians are in favor of monitoring video game time to avoid compulsive behaviors and observe changes in habits, routines, sleep rhythm, emotional state, academic performance and relationship with peers.
They warn of the risks of early, excessive use in time, with access to unrecommended applications, without supervision. Excessive exposure, with inappropriate content and language. They also highlight the risks of cyberbullying, deception, identity theft, sexting and sextortion.
By age, they advise zero screens before the age of three, of any kind. Three to six years, TV or tablet with moderate use and no video games or cell phones, except for calls. From that age, don’t leave them alone with the phone and gradually accompany them. No more than 30 minutes a day and not every day.
They also appeal to adults to set an example so that they use their mobile phones moderately and prioritize activities such as “sleeping, exercising, socializing with friends, playing, being outdoors”.
Likewise, they consider that work reconciliation must be improved so that parents have time to raise their children, and also require technologists to behave more ethically.
