Deputy Director of the Quality of Life Research Institute Iulian Stanescu says that young people and children are currently more emotionally fragile than previous generations, as they spend more and more time online and have fewer interactions with those of their age.
He said on Friday, during the debate "Freedom of expression and online safety", that minors are increasingly lonely and spend increasingly more time in front of a smartphone. The phenomenon is manifest in all countries, regardless of cultural specificity or the form of economic and social organisation, the sociologist explained.
"In the last ten years, we have witnessed an increase, which varies depending on the states or societies in which measurements are made through sociological surveys, between 50 - 100% of the time spent in front of screens and you don't think that it is time spent in front of screens like the children of the 90s spent in front of cable television, but we are talking about time spent mostly on the smartphone. The second issue: an increase of 50-1 00% of children and young people who say they have not had any kind of interaction, any kind of form of face-to-face socialisation with another child or another young person in the last week, outside school," he said at a debate hosted by the Bucharest Metropolitan Library.
Stanescu added that there are social factors that stimulate these phenomena. Thus, almost half of the children are alone with their parents, having no brothers or sisters. They also do not live in rural or urban areas where they can spend time away from home with other children. Thus, many end up staying alone in homes or yards. The effects are an increase in addictions, anxiety, and in some cases even mental disorders.
"If we draw the line, today's children and young people are much more emotionally fragile than any of the past generations. The second fundamental consequence belongs to a certain kind of discipline in achieving certain objectives or work tasks. (...) If you talk to human resources specialists, trainers, university professors, employers, you will see that this recurring message returns, which cannot be accidental, regarding the way young people relate to work tasks, to work discipline," the sociologist said.
Counsellor at the Children's Advocate Ligia Craciunescu said in her turn that excessive and uncontrolled use of digital platforms by minors can have negative effects on their development and even on their safety.
"The promotion of inappropriate content, violent or vulgar language, false information that children do not always distinguish can affect minors psychologically and negatively influence them. Spending too much time on social media can affect their mental health, which can lead to anxiety, low self-esteem, and digital addiction. In our case, we even encountered the diagnosis of virtual autism," she said.
According to her, uncontrolled access to the online environment makes children become victims of cyber bullying, fraud or solicitation for sexual purposes. Also, "very worrying" are the challenges launched on social networks, Craciunescu stressed.
"Many times, it has been found that missing minors have in fact voluntarily left home to their loved ones known online. Some of them, fortunately, are detected by the police and the necessary measures are taken. Others of them are detected after they have already had sexual relations with the persons in question. You should know that, many times, if the girl is 15-16 years old, the boyfriend was 35.".
Counsellor with the Ministry of Education Georgeta Antonia Rodica Craciunescu mentioned that students receive information about the use of the online environment in the Information and Communication Technology - ICT classes, but also in optional subjects. Then, there are extracurricular activities and nationwide thematic campaigns.
She added that the platforms are designed to maximise time spent online and emotional interaction.
"Minors, unfortunately, do not have the cognitive maturity necessary to assess all digital risks. That is why it is the parents, that is why it is the teachers and those involved in the child's education, to support them. Responsibility must be shared between platforms that must ensure safety by design. The school should do and does digital education. The family should supervise and be in constant dialogue with the children. Also, the state should ensure a legislative framework and control. We cannot ask a middle school or high school child to fight alone with these algorithms, built by entire teams of behavioural psychologists or specialists."
Craciunescu also said that it is important for minors to be aware of the risk of disinformation and to use reliable sources.
"Students don't just need digital and technical skills. They also need digital discernment skills. Algorithms influence what children see, how long they stay online, what social models they adopt. We, adults, should limit minors to certain platforms or steer them to certain platforms that are useful. (...) If children are informed that an algorithm can influence them and we come up with explanations, how it can influence them, I am convinced that they will understand and activate, they will start to think critically," she said.
