Overview
- Late June coverage featured Jöel Billieux speaking in Santiago where he warned that blanket bans on phones or social platforms for minors are ineffective on their own and must be part of broader prevention programs.
- Governments and schools are piloting measures such as school phone rules and platform age limits while Galicia has adopted a hybrid digital‑and‑analog textbook model and banned energy drinks for minors.
- Researchers and educators say parents typically track screen time but often do not know what children view, who they talk to, or which online creators shape their behavior, which weakens prevention.
- Experts list clear harms in children’s everyday online lives: cyberbullying, grooming, oversharing of personal data, misinformation and emotional dependence on social platforms and apps that mimic gambling.
- Specialists recommend a combined approach that includes industry regulation, classroom digital‑competence teaching, active family accompaniment based on dialogue and targeted prevention to protect learning and social wellbeing.