“I don’t agree with the idea of putting an age limit on the use of smartphones and social media“. These tools are “harmful if taken at the wrong ‘dose’for an excessive amount of time”, and it is on this parameter that we should intervene. “It is the same concept that applies to the use of drugs: at the right dose and with appropriate methods of administration they are good, otherwise they can also be fatal”. This is the reflection of the pediatrician Italo Farnetani, who intervenes in the debate sparked by the petition launched on ‘Change.org’ by a group of experts (pedagogists, psychotherapists and others) who call for a stop to the use of smartphones under the age of 14 and of social media under the age of 16.
For Farnetani the use of smartphones and social media should rather be “managed in the right way both by families and by schools – he highlights to Adnkronos Salute – That is, we must not create a non-specific ‘prohibitionism’, but teach children the responsible, conscious and documented use of such tools. It is useless to prohibit something that has now become not only a tool of daily life, but has entered the lifestyle of people, families and society, with undoubted advantages. They are tools that represent a form of socialization and meetingan additional way to experience the peer group and we know how important it is, during childhood and adolescence, to know and identify with peers in order to be able to verify that growth, changes in one’s body, in affectivity, in tastes, in preferences, are the same as those presented by other people of the same age. It’s better in person, but when that’s not possible, it’s also good to be able to compare notes through social media.. As happened during the Covid-19 pandemic.”
A teenager, continues the full professor of Pediatrics at the Ludes-United Campus of Malta University, meets his peer group “at school, sometimes playing sports or in public parks” therefore outdoors, in the greenery, “but you could compare with other peers is always positive as long as” the virtual mode “does not become an exclusive way of meeting, of getting to know each other, and for too long. This is why in my opinion, instead of putting a non-specific ban linked to age, it would be important for parents to create meeting alternatives” for their children, “in addition to teaching them to use the internet and electronic media. And finally it is obvious that smartphones and social media must not become a babysitter”. The expert therefore offers “3 tips to make these tools an aid for the growth of minors“.
The pediatrician’s first suggestion is for parents: “Instead of ‘hiding’ the problem, it is more useful to have a daily and continuous dialogue with your children” on this front. “Discussion and sharing” must be “a family lifestyle. This applies to all aspects of education and relationships with your children”. If this is the case, “when they start using smartphones and then social media, it will be natural for them to turn to their parents to ask for advice, clarifications and resolve doubts. Otherwise, with prohibitionism” there is a risk that “children will find themselves without support. Therefore, the first piece of advice is not to leave your children alone, but to help them within the context of a habit of dialogue. In this way, it will be easier to make them aware of the pitfalls, the risks, and to teach them the right way to use social media and smartphones”.
The second tip concerns the time management: “Let’s use smartphones and social media, but for a specific amount of time and, above all, let’s create opportunities to fill the free time left over from school – Farnetani urges – Having children and adolescents play sports is, for example, a way to promote physical health and an opportunity to get together, to leave the house and meet peers. Smartphones and social media must be a supplement to sociality, not a way of shutting yourself in and isolating yourself from the real world”. Another moment to protect is sleep, he continues. “For years we have been talking about ‘cyber-insomnia’, because the use of electronic devices before sleeping, even worse if lying in bed, disturbs sleep. They should not be used even during meals”.
The third piece of advice is to do “school of smartphones and social media. Just as you need a driving license, and to get it you need to go to driving school, it is not clear why we should leave the use of this tool that has now become an essential component of daily life to do-it-yourself. The ‘smartphone and social school’ is obviously first and foremost the task of parents at family level, but it is important that society address training courses, as is now the case for every sector, also by turning to expert personnel such as IT specialists, the Postal Police, appropriately trained teachers. A training course that must start from the youngest children and at school, where up to the age of 16, that is, the period of compulsory schooling, we can reach all children. This training, which does not replace the role of the family but integrates its power, can be implemented not only by schools, but also by voluntary associations and the Third Sector”.
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