Our country is in the top 1 of the countries with the most adolescent addiction in the old continent. The European average is around 12.7% while Spain stands at 21.3%.
The psychologist Marc Masip offers some data to put us at the point where we are. “An emoticon giving a kiss will never be a kiss. What we transmit through the mobile are only words. Will we ask for marriage on Instagram? It’s already happening.
The heroine of the 21st century
Masip considers that screens and mobiles are the heroine of the 21st century. The psychologist explains that “with the mobile we find ourselves in a situation of maximum freedom, without any kind of knowledge on how to make good use of it”. The solution? He is clear about it: “laws and instructing from education and training.” And he says bluntly: “mobile phones should be banned in schools.”
Adults are just as addicted as teens
“Adolescents do not have the consciousness of being without a mobile, adults do, because they did not experience it as they do now. However, 72% of car accidents are caused by looking at the mobile or touching it, and there are no teenagers who drive ”. In addition, he is critical of adults “because they do not set an example for their children and because they do not know how to use it correctly.”
Masip points out that you can live without a mobile phone, but that it is a very effective tool if it is used well: “The bad luck is that it is misused, it is destructive.” Regarding the question of the million, at what age should the youngest have a mobile, the psychologist is clear: “they should not have social networks or mobile phones until they are 16”
The universe of social networks and ‘influencers’
“In the networks we show our best version or what we want others to see or admire about us. We need to belong, to admire, for people to tell us how handsome we are ”. But there is a problem, says Masip, which is when you sell something that you are not, and “this generates a high level of frustration, for what I am and for what I want to demonstrate or would like to be”.
The solution? A digital diet!
The psychologist devised and developed a digital diet that he carries out with his patients in order to reduce the abusive use that in many cases occurs with mobile phones and video games. They are guidelines for good use, such as “sleeping with the mobile turned off and out of the room, not using it while driving or waking up, not publishing everything we do, trying not to be emotionally influenced by what they say after publishing a post, no be aware of the mobile when we are with people and not study with him “, among others.
You can read the entire interview at El Nacional.cat
