Working in digital marketing, and running my own company, often makes it difficult to separate work from family. When I was little, I helped prepare things in my grandmother's shop, and this family business was a place where everyone could contribute, even a child, no matter how small.

This year, one of the research projects I served on as a panel for reached a fascinating conclusion, which I'll reveal at the end of this article. The project analyzed the range of leisure activities in Catalan aimed at young people. There was something for all tastes and ages. For the youngest children, there were musical and theatrical activities. These, of course, were chosen by their parents.

On January 26th, a century ago, John Logie Baird, a Scottish engineer, gave the first public demonstration of television in London before members of the Royal Institution. He had built the device himself, based on a previous invention, the Nipkow disk, created in 1884 by the German Paul Nipkow. A reproduction of John Logie Baird's device can be seen at the Science Museum in London. It had low resolution and the image was small, not much larger than a modern mobile phone screen. In terms of size, in some ways, we've gone back to the beginning.

Telling a bedtime story, making up a tale if the child throws a tantrum at mealtimes, or entertaining them by explaining all sorts of interesting facts when they're in a waiting room, a restaurant, or at the bus stop. Some parents still do these things, but others prefer to give their children a mobile phone or tablet to keep them entertained. When screens take center stage, certain habits that allow family members to connect and spend quality time together—such as reading—are lost.

Since France questioned the presence of mobile phones in classrooms in 2018, we've looked to it as a pioneering example of digital education. Last year, they piloted a "daily digital break" during school hours in more than 200 schools, and next year it will be extended to all students under 16. Mobile phones will not be allowed in any French classroom, nor in the UK.a studyfrom the University of Birmingham concludes that banning screen time alone does not improve children's well-being or increase academic performance, reducing daily screen time by only 30 minutes.

The history of the omnipresence of screens in the classroom has a more or less direct origin in the Council of Europe recommendation number 1836 made public in 2008. According to the authors of the document, although the tools ofe-learning (the expression has already been passed down) had had a considerable impact on education and training, their potential in Europe had not yet been fully exploited.e-learning encompassed electronic media for teaching and learning, both in person and remotelyIt placed new demands on educational institutions, teachers, and students. Institutions needed technical infrastructure and software. Teachers had to receive specific mandatory training, while students had to have access to devices and materials and be trained in their use from a young age. It was believed at the time that educational resources accessible to everyone would be generated, thus combating social division. Parliaments were called upon to support the "open source" movement and to combat the supposed digital divide. In short, Member States were invited to improve technologies that could be applied to education through major investments. One of the first countries to enthusiastically embrace the recommendation was Sweden. However, it was also the first to abandon it in 2023 after observing its worrying (and verifiable) results. The Swedish government, and more specifically Minister Lotta Edholm, halted all this after learning of multiple reports comparing groups that worked with screens and others that worked with books. Academic performance was significantly lower in the case of the former, especially in memory capacity, concentration, attention, and reading comprehension.

These days the book has seen the light Not without my cell phone. A title that comes from from a published article In this very newspaper, in one of the many moments of adult moral panic surrounding "screens." Now, the book also comes out at another of these times: the Ministry of Education has just announced that next year, cell phones and smartwatches will have to be completely eliminated—and, therefore, banned—at all stages of compulsory education; Congress is debating the law on the digital protection of minors; and, everywhere, they are demonstrating in abundance and everywhere. And, speaking only of adolescent boys and girls, once again, I'm not sure that the adults involved are looking, listening, discovering arguments, or considering how to be useful in their digital lives. So I once again invite a positive dialogue on a small part of the issue: the symbiosis between adolescence and the digital universe.

The Spanish government is promoting the law for the protection of minors in the digital environment, which is currently undergoing parliamentary process. Among the measures it includes is a ban on accessing social media if you are under 16 years of age. The measure is controversial because, although there is consensus on the harmful effects of these platforms on adolescents, there is disagreement about its effectiveness. Some warn that it does not address the root problem, which is the very nature of algorithms that promote toxicity, polarization, addiction, distraction, or conflicts with one's own body.

The Spanish government wants to ban young people from social media until they are 16. That's why we're dedicating this weekend's dossier to considering whether this measure can be implemented and, if so, whether it would be sufficient. We review the situation in several countries that have implemented similar restrictions and speak with experts about the appropriateness (or otherwise) of such restrictions. In addition, Albert Cuesta will detail what controls can be implemented on minors' devices to ensure a safer experience.

Lack of sleep affects our mental and physical health. Disorders such as insomnia, apnea, and narcolepsy affect the daily lives of those who suffer from them, as a series of essential processes occur while we sleep. More and more people are accustomed to using screens in bed before going to sleep, which disrupts our sleep and, by extension, our health. A study by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health has determined that using a cell phone one hour before bedtime increases the risk of insomnia by 59% and reduces sleep time by almost half an hour each night, about 24 minutes. These are the conclusions published this Monday by the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry.

Last weekend, I took advantage of a trip to Alicante to visit Pedro Montengón, who has been dead for 200 years. I like, if I have time, to reciprocate sentimentally with the authors who have provided me with good moments of intimate reading, and, in addition to listening to them with my eyes, I try to see them with my feet. At the beginning of the street that bears his name, a plaque commemorates him with these words: "Pedro Montengón i Paret (Alicante, 1745 - Naples, 1824). Jesuit and writer. He composed poetry, odes, and novels, some of them successful, such as Eusebio".