Children and cell phones: between prohibiting and releasing – 08/10/2023 – Education

The news that China wants to limit the time spent using smartphones for young people up to 18 years has heated up a debate that is already part of the daily life of many schools and families. The proposal from the Cyberspace Administration of China (ACC), the country’s internet regulator, proposes a time scale according to age: eight minutes a day for children under 8 years old; one hour for the age group between 8 and 16 years old; two hours for those between 16 and 18 years old. Additionally, those under 18 would be prohibited from handling mobile devices between 10 pm and 6 am.

The imposition of limits on the relationship between children and cell phones is the subject of discussion in several areas. In education, for example, some teaching networks are vetoing the devices, as announced in recent days by the City Hall of Rio de Janeiro, whose decree contemplates their use only for educational activities. In a recent report entitled “Technology in Education: a Tool at the Service of Whom?”, Unesco has shown that around one in four countries adopts some policy related to the restriction of mobile phones in the classroom.

In the text, the organization points out that “depriving students of new and innovative technologies can put them at a disadvantage”, but recognizes that these can have a negative impact if their use is inappropriate or excessive. It also mentions that, according to data from the Program for International Student Assessment (Pisa), proximity to cell phones can distract students, impacting their learning, in 14 countries.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that children up to four years old not spend more than one hour a day exposed to screens and that children up to two years old have no contact with them. However, the previously cited Unesco report demonstrates that children’s exposure time to these devices has increased significantly in recent years.

“A survey of screen time among parents of 3- to 8-year-olds in Australia, China, Italy, Sweden and the United States found that their children’s screen exposure increased by 50 minutes during the pandemic, both for education and for leisure”, says an excerpt.

Faced with so much evidence about the harm that the use of cell phones can cause to the physical and mental health and learning of children and adolescents, the solution would be to prohibit their use or even relegate to governments, as in the case of China, their limitation. to the younger ones?

It is impossible to say that cell phone use at school is not a problem. This is a major obstacle for many teaching and learning situations, as it causes numerous distractions and disturbances that pedagogical teams witness every day. However, declaring war on gadgets doesn’t seem like a good idea.

Certainly, it is the duty of the family and also of the teaching units to discipline its use. It’s not because cell phones are within reach that we should use them at all times, indiscriminately. It is necessary to define when and for what purpose it makes sense to use them. It is necessary to have clearer rules and, preferably, constructed with children and adolescents, at home and at school, with adults informed about the risks of digital exposure in early childhood and giving good examples of the balanced and qualified use of devices on the day to day.

From this, we will be able to take advantage, without harming the health of students, of technological innovations that cannot be overlooked in the project to improve pedagogical practices and expand the right to education.