How sad it is to see a small child looking at a screen while sitting on a bench, walking with their parents, in their stroller, or eating in a restaurant, while thousands of things are happening around them. A pigeon pecks a piece of bread, a woman loses her hat in the wind, a girl plays ball, a security guard trips over a lamppost, the wind rustles the leaves on the ground… and they remain there, staring at the screen, like a zombie. Learning almost nothing, behaving impeccably—that’s for sure—not bothering anyone, not getting in the way… but permanently damaging their brain.
They are called digital natives, but nobody is born with a mobile phone or a tablet in their hand, just as we weren’t born with a loaf of bread. Therefore, the term that best defines these generations is “digitally nurtured,” because it is us, the adults, who feed them that screen, sometimes from their first months of life, against the recommendations of all the experts and the World Health Organization.
We do it because it’s easy, because everyone else does it, because “it’s just for a little while”… but we do it. And in doing so, we not only harm their present—preventing them from observing and interacting with the real world—but also their future. As María Couso points out in her book Brain and Screens, screen use at an early age has permanent negative effects on brain development.
So, what can we do? Many things. To begin with, delay mobile phone use as much as possible. It’s difficult, but there are already groups of families organizing to prevent their children from having a phone before the age of 16. And then, fulfill our role as mothers, fathers, and educators.
It’s okay if they get bored. It’s okay if they get angry, if they get impatient. It’s okay if we have to scold them or set limits. Our job is not to constantly entertain them, but to educate them. To tell them no, to set boundaries, to guide them in their development.
They won’t love us any less. We’re not going to be worse parents or teachers. As adults, it’s our responsibility to stop feeding them endless screens and videos and start taking charge of their education. Because they deserve the best… and the best isn’t on a screen.