Smartphones sold in Spain should carry a label warning users about their potential health impacts, experts told the Spanish government, in a report that asks doctors to ask about screen time during checks.
As Spain moves forward with a bill to limit children’s exposure to technology, the 50-member expert committee has also called for minors to have limited exposure to digital devices until age 13 to mitigate what they consider a public health problem.
The nearly 250-page report by the experts, seen by the newspaper El País, recommends that children under three years old should not be exposed to digital devices, while children up to six years old should only be allowed access to them on an exceptional basis.
For children between six and 12 years old, the use of so-called “dumb phones”, which do not have Internet access and are limited to calls, should be prioritized, as well as offline activities such as sports.
The report calls on the government to consider adding a warning label to digital devices sold in Spain, informing consumers of the health risks some have linked to social media and digital devices, as well as the possible impacts that the Access to inappropriate content could have on children’s development.
Similar warnings should appear on screens when accessing certain apps or platforms, detailing health risks and maximum recommended usage time, the report recommended.
He urged the government to consider mobile phone addiction a public health problem, a designation that would facilitate the development of preventive measures and early detection systems.
Questions about screen time and problem behaviors should be incorporated into health visits for all age groups, while “screening for depression, anxiety, and technology use” should be performed periodically during adolescent checkups. .
The committee met earlier this year in response to what the president of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, described as a “real epidemic” of online pornography consumption among children.
“The figures are at the same time very revealing and very worrying,” Sánchez saying in January. “One in four young people under the age of 12 – and almost half of those under 15 – have had or have access to pornography.”
In the end, however, the report took a broader view of the problem, analyzing not only children’s access to pornography but also their use of digital devices. His intervention comes amid a growing global debate about children’s exposure to technology, which has led schools around the world to crack down on the use of mobile phones in classrooms.
In France, a government-commissioned study said in April that children should not be allowed to use smartphones until the age of 13 and should be prohibited from accessing mainstream social networks such as TikTok and Instagram until the age of 18.
In Spain, where statistics suggest that a quarter of children have mobile phones by age 10 and almost half by age 11, the Socialist-led coalition government said in June expose bill to protect minors, proposing that parental controls be installed by default on smartphones and that a national educational campaign be implemented to help children and adolescents navigate social networks.
The bill also establishes new data requirements that, if implemented, would increase the minimum age to open a social media account from 14 to 16, while teachers and health care staff would receive training to detect children who They fight possible addictions to smartphones.
The draft law, which is in the public consultation phase, is expected to be further refined in the report, which was compiled with input from organizations such as the European Partnership for the Digital Transition, as well as paediatricians and psychiatrists.
The report also hinted at the role of the broader environment in reducing children’s exposure, and called for training programs aimed at families, where experts could answer questions about how children can connect to the Internet safely and how limiting access and exposure, as well as urging schools to remove any educational apps based on immediate gratification.