Between 2020 and 2022, the time children spend in front of smartphone screens increased by 52%. A quarter of them use devices in a way that indicates addiction, the British Education Committee revealed last week in a report titled “Screen time: impacts on education and wellbeing”.
Great Britain. Smartphones from the age of 16?
It has been found that children as young as six months are exposed to electronic device screens. “One in five children aged three to four have their own mobile phone, rising to one in four children by the age of eight and almost all children by the age of 12” – . The amount of time spent online by children aged 5 to 15 has increased from an average of nine hours a week in 2009 to 15 hours a week in 2018.
It was also indicated that 79 percent children under the age of 18 have been exposed to violent pornography. Moreover, children have their first contact with pornography on average at the age of 13. It was also indicated that the number of sexual crimes committed against children on the Internet has increased by as much as 400 percent since 2013.
In addition to harming mental and physical health, screen time can disrupt students’ learning both at home and in the classroom. It can take up to 20 minutes to refocus on your studies after browsing the internet
– emphasized.
The Education Committee has recommended that the future UK government should consider introducing a total ban on mobile phones for under-16s, as well as tightening rules on smartphones in schools during lessons and breaks. – Without urgent action, more children will be put at risk. From exposure to pornography to criminal gangs using online platforms to recruit children, the online world poses serious threats, said committee chair Robin Walker.
Italy wants to tighten the law. It’s about smartphones in schools
The use of mobile phones in schools has been banned, among others. in France, Greece, Portugal and China. Meanwhile, Italy, which has already banned the use of smartphones in kindergartens and schools, wants to tighten the law. In mid-April, the Italian Senate approved a law that will prohibit the use of mobile phones and tablets also for teaching purposes, reports the Italian press agency.
Source: Gazeta
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