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Alone and without alternative leisure: young people from low-income families abuse screens more

2023-05-30T21:42:16.996Z

Highlights: Young Spaniards spend more than three hours a day in front of a screen during the week and on weekends they reach five hours. This excessive use is related to several factors, and one of them is the economic situation of families. In the lower-income families interviewed, the risk of addiction affected almost 21%. More than one in five children from low-income backgrounds is at risk of being addicted to electronic devices, according to Caritas Spain. The long time spent alone is a crucial factor, explain two experts.


One in five children from low-income backgrounds is at risk of being addicted to electronic devices


Facundo was not confrontational, nor did he cause problems at home or in high school. He had always been "a very responsible boy, very disciplined," says his mother, Ninfa Alarcón. However, when he was 15 years old, his tutor called his mother to tell her that he did not go to class and when he came it was from noon. That's when she realized her son had gotten hooked on video games. She was away from home most of the day for her job and Facundo, who was left alone, "spent hours and hours playing," Alarcón says. The teenager spent more than 12 hours in front of the computer screen.

This case is not isolated. Young Spaniards spend more than three hours a day in front of a screen during the week and on weekends they reach five hours. These are data from the Gasol Foundation's PASOS 2022 report. However, the WHO advises not to exceed two hours a day. This excessive use is related to several factors, and one of them is the economic situation of families. The report shows that almost 70% of children from a low-income background exceeded WHO recommendations on weekdays. That's 9% more than those from higher-income families.

Facundo, now 18, and his mother, 47, arrived in Spain from Peru, their homeland, in 2018. Due to a complicated economic situation, they asked Caritas for help. They live in Segovia (Castilla y León) and during the first years they did not have internet at home, so the teenager went to the municipal library to use the computers there. If he took his card and his mother's, he could connect for four hours, which is already excessive use, according to the Gasol Foundation.

Read more: Young people spend more than twice the time recommended by WHO on screens

When Ninfa Alarcón could afford to hire internet for the home, the situation was accentuated because Facundo could use it almost uninterruptedly. She left home at five in the morning and didn't return until late in the afternoon, so her son could stay playing on the computer unsupervised. When she learned of the boy's addiction, Alarcon wanted to believe in him and didn't take action until she was called a second time from the center. "I also couldn't control it because my work situation didn't allow it, if I stayed at home I couldn't make money."

In February last year, Caritas published a report, funded by the Ministry of Health, on the abusive use of electronic devices (more than six hours a day). In the lower-income families interviewed, the risk of addiction affected almost 21%. More than one in five. Carmen García, responsible for the Childhood and Family programs of Caritas Spain, highlights as triggering aspects loneliness, lack of alternative leisure, lack of motivation and the desire to escape from their reality.

The long time spent alone by young people from low-income families is a crucial factor, explain Genís Según, from the Gasol Foundation, and Carmen García, from Cáritas. Nor do they have many more leisure options if they do not have parks close to home, or if those that exist are not in good condition or are not safe, says García. In addition, in many cases parents cannot afford their children to do extracurricular activities during the afternoons, which happened to Alarcón and Facundo.

To tackle her son's problem, Alarcón asked Caritas for help and they began working with one of their psychologists. From that moment on, she had to carry the routerand all the cables of the computer in her bag so that he could not use it. "Even so, he found wires around the house that he could use, he was like a drug or alcohol addict," laments the mother.

Addiction and family conflicts

Although they do not fit the profile of a low-income family, Marta and Daniel (both fictitious names to protect their identities) also received help from Caritas for a similar situation. They are mother and son and live in Gijón. When he started primary school, at the age of six, the school provided Daniel with a computer to study, which he also used to play. By the age of nine it had become a problem: "The moment to take away his computer or tell him to turn it off was already a conflict. He broke a lot of things," his mother recalls.

The child spent 10 to 12 hours a day playing: "I hardly slept." The situation got worse until one day, when he was 11 years old, Daniel pushed and kicked his mother. She had to call the police and, after the conflict, they began working with the Family Support Technical Intervention Team (EITAF) of the municipal social services. Through them, Daniel began to go to the Llugarín, a Caritas day center, where he spent the afternoons while Marta worked. There he did his homework and worked with him on his addiction and family conflicts. Although they had the help of EITAF and Caritas, Marta had to leave her job because she spent many hours away from home.

Now the young man hardly plays video games, has replaced them with social networks and has greatly reduced the hours in front of the screen. His parents installed a parental control service on his mobile that restricts his use of the internet to a maximum of four hours a day. Even so, when taking accounts, Daniel says that during the week he spends between four and six hours a day with the screens (television and mobile). The figure rises to seven or eight hours on the weekend, which is when they do not limit the phone.

Many times the problem is that children are with the mobile, but their parents are next to doing the same

Carmen García, responsible for the Childhood and Family programs of Caritas Spain

Carmen García, from Caritas Spain, explains that for children who belong to low-income environments, video games also have the quality that they let them be whoever they want to be. "They allow them to get out of their reality, which is quite complicated, and abstract from it," he says. García also warns that when it comes to young people who belong to marginal environments they are more likely to use the digital world hiding their identity. "Children from the Cañada Real have come to tell us that they do not say the area in which they live to avoid being rejected," he details.

The head of Children and Family of the NGO also points out that in many cases children are a reflection of their elders: "Many times the problem is that children are with the mobile, but their fathers and mothers are next to doing the same." He emphasizes that the limits set by adults are increasingly diffuse and that in many cases there are even perception problems. When they prepared the report, Caritas was surprised to see that parents considered that the rules at home were clear regarding the use of screens, while children declared not having them, or having very few rules.

The NGO proposes that parents set real limits, but that they do not apply them only to their children, but that they also follow their own rules. It is committed to restricting the use of technologies and quality family time as fundamental elements. "There are families who do not know how to get involved in the education of their children, how to accompany them," says García.

Caritas also shows concern about the lack of motivation it observes in these children in their context. They do not have the economic resources, but many times they do not have other support from their closest relatives and that also includes the motivational part. He also points out that in many children they have observed a total lack of motivation: "They have no expectations or dreams." García talks about the intergenerational transmission of poverty. Children see themselves reflected in their parents and grandparents. "They accept that, even if they don't like it, it's the life that has touched them and it's not going to change. Their situation bores them and they escape with screens," he concludes.

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Source: elparis

All news articles on 2023-05-30

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