At what age should children have their first cell phone? This is the question that has been put on the table again after a group of mothers and fathers from the Poblenou neighborhood (Barcelona) have created a WhatsApp group to try to stop the “normalization” of buying a smartphone at 12 years, coinciding with the start of high school, and postpone it until age 16.
Almost 70% of minors of this age already have a mobile phone, according to the National Institute of Statistics. And, specifically, 47.5% of 10 and 11-year-old children in Barcelona have a mobile phone, and three out of four admit problems stopping using it (Institut de l’Infància i Adolescència, 2021).
The initiative was born from the concern of a mother, with three daughters in primary school, after talking with other families who had decided to give their children a cell phone due to “social pressure” or, in other words, to prevent them from being “the class losers.”
In just one month, this group called 'Poblenou, adolescència lliure de mòbils' has reached the limit of the platform, reaching 1,024 members. For this reason, families have opened another group on Telegram, to which they invite others to join. It has generated such interest that it is spreading throughout Catalonia.
The various Student Family Associations (AFA) in the neighborhood met in person this Wednesday to establish an agenda “that goes from the most local to the regulatory sphere.” “We believe that we can make this force locally, but with a shared agenda,” explains Xavier Casanoves, one of the spokespersons.
The conversations have gone beyond neighborhoods and have been in contact with parents from Gràcia. Without going any further, the AFA coordinator of this neighborhood published the survey 'Minors and use of mobile phones and social networks' a little over a week ago to promote a collective debate and find out the opinions of families. More than 1,000 parents have already responded, and more are expected. In the absence of definitive results, Marta Hernández, a member of the Gràcia AFA coordinator, has shared with La Vanguardia that, for the moment, 70% of those surveyed are in favor of delaying the cell phone until 16, just as recommends the EU. “Only 10% believe that at that age it is ‘too late.’”
Like the mother of Poblenou, Marta Hernández, with two daughters in primary school, was concerned about the age of access to the first mobile phone. A few months ago she decided to contact the clinical psychologist Francisco Villar, in favor of delaying her age, so that she could give a talk at the center and, in parallel, she learned about the Sadako charter school project. The center asked parents if they wanted to give mobile phones to their children and if they did so so soon it was due to social pressure. “Now, they have a first year ESO class without cell phones.”
Hernández wants to make it clear that “they have nothing against technologies,” but rather against “misuse” when “you are a child and you don't know how to use them.” “We are looking for the best age for our children to use a tool that is good and that, in fact, is helping us to create a network between parents,” he says. And adds Xavier Casanoves, from Poblenou: “We have to understand that our children do not need their cell phones to socialize, because they already have many spaces where they can do so, such as school, sports, music, etc.”
A Cáritas study last year revealed that 36.7% of adolescents between 12 and 17 years old spend more than six hours a day while one in five is at risk of addiction.
“We want families to ask themselves if it is really necessary for their child to have a cell phone at the age of 12 or 13 and, if so, why they do it,” says Casanoves. “There is a kind of silent majority that does not want to give their cell phones to their children, but due to pressure they end up falling.” In order to have more arguments, this initiative aims to empower families with proposals such as signing a document of social commitment in the neighborhood. "We propose this document so that families 'sign' not to buy a cell phone for their child when they start ESO," he details that this way each family "will have more arguments with their child."
Parents assure that, if it comes to having a cell phone to keep them under control, there are other ways to communicate with their children. Both the AFA of Poblenou and that of Gràcia are optimistic about reaching a consensus. “Just as driving, smoking or drinking among minors has historically been regulated, I think that in a few years, seeing a 12 or 13 year old child with a cell phone in their hand will seem like an aberration,” Casanoves concludes.
