Children aged two to three should not spend more than 10 minutes a day in front of the screen; between four and six years the limit is 30 minutes and between seven and ten years an hour. The members of the cooperative Somos Coneccion, which brings other amounts to the World Health Organization, affirm this, but the data show that, in general, the number of hours we spend before the screen children, young people and adults is higher.

“These figures are especially worrying during holidays, as young people can spend hours and hours with electronic devices,” says the organization: the abusive use of mobile phones can prevent social relationships and create anxiety, insomnia or dependence, they warn.

Child display consumption in summer

In Argia, some reflections were collected on how to consume the screens, the difficulties to establish limits and the moments when it should be avoided as a resource. Two interesting keys were: one, “it is not so much what you do looking at the screen, but what you do not do when you look at the screen, how long it takes you to play, explore, create…”; and two, “boiling is also a learning process to adapt to the new rhythms, to develop patience and self-control, to accommodate the imagination”.

First mobile at 16

According to the Spanish cooperative, the age to have the first cell phone is 16 years, but data also indicate that children have used to receive their first cell phone when they are minors. In the words of the cooperative, social pressure has a great influence on this issue. In fact, the Irish city of Greystones has demonstrated the importance of involving parents and schools and agreeing on the age of the first mobile among all.