Increase the number of young people with smartphones
The National Institute of Statistics, INE, has published the results of the Survey on Equipment and Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Homes. Data that does not surprise anyone since they make clear something that everyone will have appreciated to a greater or lesser extent: the expansion of smartphones in the home.
The number of young people with one of these terminals has not stopped growing in this sector of the population since its arrival in the market. In fact, only television exceeds smarthones as electronic and informative technology equipment within households. A symptom of how society is facing a new paradigm which makes very clear the need to inculcate rules of use among the smallest.
Few young people without mobile
Today the children no longer bring a bread under their arms, they come to this world practically with a mobile in their hands. As they grow, the use of these technologies increases as they explain from the INE. Currently the 45,2% of children under 11 already have one of these devices, a percentage that goes up at 12 years (75%) and reaches 94% in the case of the population of 14 years.
Although not only has the use of the smartphone grown, but also that of the internet. In fact, the online world is present in the 88,8% of children 10 years old and 91% of those 11 years old. In the case of adolescents of 14 years, the percentage is somewhat less than 100% (99.2%).
The way to access the internet has also changed after the appearance of smartphones in our daily lives. At present, 91.7% of Internet users declare that they have used some type of mobile device to access the Internet outside the home. 90.4% accessed by mobile phone (81.9% using mobile data and 69.5% via WiFi).
Do not co-educate, just educate
Are these data bad? No, they just warn of a change in society that can bring many benefits. Access to new technologies can bring incredible benefits to children, among them they can highlight:
- Access to updated and multimedia information.
- Immediate and free communication with distant people.
- Support in school tasks when accessing school material from virtual platforms of these centers.
- Quick information channel between home and school.
To inculcate a good use of new technologies in the smallest, these are some tips that must be applied to them:
- Establish agreed rules with the children to surf the internet. It is necessary to make clear to the smallest ones that in Internet they will find good and bad things and that for that reason they must assume norms in order to prevent these dangers. Reflect on the utility of these standards.
- Only allow navigation when there is an adult at home. The computer must be in a common space at home where an adult personally supervises the activity of the little ones.
- Never give personal information. If any website requests a telephone, address or any other information that allows the location of the minor, it must never be offered through these online platforms.
- Internet never at night. The use of the Internet must be done during the day and evening, at night it is important to rest and, in any case, socialize with the family.
Damián Montero
