Illa wants to recover textbooks and ban the use of AI in schools until age 14

BarcelonaHealth problems derived from intensive screen exposure are no longer a future threat for the youngest: they are a reality. The consequences vary according to the life stage, but the combination of risks over the years can favor the appearance of pathologies, some irreversible, among children and adolescents. From 0 to 6 years old, the inadequate use of technologies can cause them to start speaking later, develop myopia, or have motor difficulties. Between 7 and 11 years old, it can worsen sleep, favor overweight and the appearance of cavities, and affect academic performance. And from 12 to 18 years old, it can increase emotional distress, distort self-image, and increase vulnerability to patterns of violence and harassment, inside and outside of social networks.

To “combat” this abuse of screens among minors, the president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, proposed this Tuesday to ban artificial intelligence (AI) in schools until “the threshold of 14 years old,” as well as to “promote reading” and “recover textbooks” among the new generations; a matter that will need to be addressed in the educational pact that he himself has commissioned to the Educational Council. The head of the executive also stated that he wants to promote “specific programs” to reinforce other fundamental learning areas such as vocabulary, writing, and orality, and articulate it around libraries. “It cannot be that the addiction to screens causes the boys and girls of our country not to have contact with Mercè Rodoreda, Joanot Martorell, Miguel de Cervantes, or Ramon Llull,” said Illa.

In an event at the Palau Centelles, and accompanied by the ministers of Health, Olga Pané, and Education, Esther Niubó, Illa stated that Catalonia wants to be the first territory in the State with its own model of digital well-being for childhood and adolescence. Thus, he specified that on September 28 a commission led by the Department of Business will announce 60 more measures and he has committed to promoting a law to turn recommendations into “enforceable and lasting” norms, which do not depend on who is governing. “These effects [harmful effects of screens] are in the day-to-day of medical consultations, classrooms, and homes,” underlined the president.

These announcements come after the publication of a new guide of recommendations for responsible digitalization, conscious of its impact on health during youth, by the Department of Health, based on about 700 unique reviews of international scientific literature.

The document includes a description of specific risk factors for each developmental stage, as well as recommendations for society and the administration to minimize their effects and promote healthy technological environments, “not dictated by the industry”. In fact, the Department of Health is in favor of a consensus among administrations to delay children's contact with social networks and mobile phones and to provide tools to families and educators to prevent the effects associated with screens.

According to the deputy director general of Addictions of the Generalitat, Lluïsa Conejos, there are “irreversible” effects caused by screens, referring above all to the impacts that occur during early childhood and especially in the first years of life. For example, in the bond between parents and children: if adults are “barely present” or, even, “connected to their own screens”, the impact on the little ones can be “irreparable”.

Usage patterns from 14 to 18 years old

The guide has been developed based on patterns and the prevalence of technology use as well as the social conditioning factors that accompany it. That is to say, the type of activities young people engage in with technology, the degree of parental guidance, digital skills, and the socioeconomic context in which they live, among others. Conejos points out that 99% of adults and 82.4% of the population between 0 and 20 years old own a mobile phone. In primary education, 51.6% of children have one, but the figure rises to practically all secondary school students (92.9%). The age of access to the first mobile phone in Catalonia is 10.8 years, and 92.5% have at least one social media profile. Three out of four (75.8%) have three or more.

Data from the 2025 Survey on Drug Use in Secondary Education in Spain (Estudes) also confirm that Catalan students aged 14 to 18 spend an average of 4.8 hours a day connected to the internet for leisure during the week, a figure that rises to 6.7 hours a day during the weekend. Currently, nearly one in four students (23%) shows signs of potential compulsive internet use, an indicator calculated based on the frequency with which they experience symptoms such as sleeping less or wanting to spend less time with others in order to stay connected. In fact, one-third of young people aged 14 to 18 show signs of potential problematic social media use.

What about video games? Use is almost universal among boys (97%), while among girls it is 72.8%. The differences are also evident in playtime: one in two boys spends more than two hours a day on them, compared to one in seven girls. 10.7% of boys and 2.2% of girls show signs of a possible gaming disorder, according to diagnostic criteria.