BARCELONA Anxiety and panic. That’s what the president of the parents’ association in Barcelona saw Monica Marques describes the moment when his daughter started middle school.
– At that point, parents often buy their children a smartphone, but I was horrified by the thought of the risks associated with using the phone.
At first, Marqués talked with the parents of his daughter’s school friends. It turned out that everyone was afraid of the same things: the difficulty of monitoring phone usage and harmful online content.
– In addition, everyone hoped they could postpone the purchase of a smartphone, but on the other hand, they thought their child was the only one who didn’t have one.
According to the Spanish Statistical Office about half of 11-year-old and 70 percent of 12-year-old children use a smartphone.
Likewise, around 70 percent of 10–15-year-olds have their own phone. In Finland, almost all children over the age of 7 already have a smartphone.
Marqués and thousands of Spanish parents and at the end of last year, teachers started collecting names for an address demanding a law banning smartphones in school.
In January, the country’s education council unanimously approved a proposal where smartphones are banned in elementary schools and phone use is restricted in middle schools.
The Spanish Minister of Education also supported it.
It is not a law yet, but the majority of schools in the country will implement the ban by the next semester at the latest.
In Spain, the decision-making power regarding education is mainly in the self-governing regions. That’s why practices may vary in different regions and per school.
Policies vary by school
Already from Spanish elementary school students has banned phones in much of the country altogether. According to the Education Council’s proposal, middle school students will be allowed to keep their phones with them in the future as well, but it must be turned off except in exceptional cases.
For example, a teaching situation where a telephone is needed can be counted as such. The use of telephones is also being restricted in secondary educational institutions.
Daughter of Monica Marqués, 13 years old Claudia Obiolls attends the Sadako private school in Barcelona, which receives state aid.
At Marqués’ initiative, Sadako decided to ban phones from middle school students as well, even before the school council’s policy.
Put the students’ phones in the box
The school principal Jordi Musons presents boxes in the school office where phones are collected during the school day.
Before, you couldn’t use the phone, but you could keep it with you.
– We noticed that the students were using the phone secretly. Trips to the bathroom increased and in the school yard, the young people stared at their phones and did not talk to each other.
When smartphones were put away for the school day, the behavior of children and young people changed.
– Pupils seek each other’s company again. Play and conversation have returned to the school yard.
Musons emphasizes that the school is not against technology.
It was one of the first schools in Barcelona to use tablets in teaching.
The Spanish state supported the purchase of tablets during the pandemic, but four years later, some schools are planning to return to the old teaching methods.
According to Musons, Sadako is not going to give up tablets, at least for the time being. Today, however, only middle school students are allowed to take them home and the school monitors the use of tablets.
– We see which sites the students have visited. Also, applications may not be downloaded without the school’s permission.
The Spanish government has also planned together with non-governmental organizations, an identification system to be installed on the phones of minors. It would prevent children from accessing sites classified as harmful.
There are similar plans in, for example, France, which banned smartphones in schools six years ago.
Psychologist: Smart devices as harmful as tobacco and alcohol
Lead psychologist at Sant Joan de Déu Children’s Hospital in Barcelona Francisco Villar has studied the effects of smart devices on children and young people for a long time.
He specializes in studying the causes of minor suicides and attempted suicides, which today are often associated with cyberbullying.
– School bullying is even more invisible to many parents. Your child can be bullied over the phone while sitting with you in the living room.
Therefore, according to him, banning phones in schools is not enough. Villar sees the increase in nausea every day at work.
– Suicides, slashing, concentration and eating disorders, cyberbullying and sexual harassment especially against girls have increased with smartphones.
According to Villar, for example, before a diagnosis of attention disorder, a smart device should be taken away from a child.
– Often the child’s behavior changes after a couple of weeks of banning smart devices.
Villar hopes that in the near future smart devices will be banned from minors like tobacco and alcohol.
– We should not allow technology giants to make money at the expense of our children’s mental health.
The demand for children’s mental health services is increasing
Both in Spain and in Finland, parents often justify the purchase of a smartphone with security reasons.
– Nowadays, there is more demand for children’s therapy services than for traumatologists. Children no longer hurt themselves physically, but we treat mental health problems.
According to Villar, smart devices are one of the biggest safety risks for children in today’s world.
He is a popular lecturer in Spain and also travels around speaking to parents’ associations.
– Many parents imagine that the child will remain an outsider without a phone. In reality, he is protected from stimuli that negatively affect his mental health and, for example, his vision.
Villar works with ophthalmologists who report that children’s eyesight is deteriorating as a result of smart devices.
However, Villar does not blame the parents.
– Parents tend to think of the best for their children. They have been sold the idea that it would also mean smart devices.
An old Nokia instead of a smartphone
Mònica Marqués knows that it’s easier for parents to stick to the ban on smart devices if their children’s friends don’t have them either.
His daughter Claudia also expected to get a smartphone after turning 12.
– At first, it was sad that my mother campaigned for banning smartphones. However, now I understand that it is a good thing. It’s harder to talk face-to-face than on a cell phone.
At the end of the school day, he takes an old Nokia out of the office drawer, which he can only use to make calls and send text messages.
A lot of guys have them nowadays.
What do you think, should smartphones be banned from children and young people in Finland too?