Un usage abusif chez les écoliers – Le Jeune Indépendant

Digital screens, omnipresent in the lives of young people, are increasingly worrying the authorities. The results of a national survey presented this Monday in Algiers by the Ministry of Health reveal “abusive” use of screens among students, with notable consequences on their health and their academic success.

This study, carried out among more than a million middle school students in all the wilayas of the country, shows that 40% of children received their first smartphone between the ages of 11 and 13. More than 32% of them spend more than three hours a day in front of these devices, and 40% have been exposed to content deemed “inappropriate”.

During the presentation, Dr Hamza Rouabah, coordinator of the survey, insisted on the dangers of prolonged and unsupervised use of screens. The deputy director of the Ministry of Health, Dr Fatma Bousmaha, for her part stressed the importance of putting in place mechanisms encouraging responsible use, affirming that “it is up to parents to monitor the content consulted by their children and to limit the time spent in front of screens to protect their health”.

Dr Djamel Fourar, general director of prevention and health promotion, specified that these results will be used to define strategies allowing students to benefit from the advantages of screens for their studies, while avoiding their negative effects.

Between disturbed concentration, risk of obesity and exposure to inappropriate content, the urgency is to regulate screen time and content is now a priority for Education and Health.