Smartphones and minors: more use, more exposure to risks, but less damage

Children in Spain have their first mobile phone at 8 years old, when it was only 6 years ago when they accessed their first terminal

    Children in Spain have their first mobile at 8 years, when just 6 years ago it was not until 11 when they accessed their first terminal. Something that makes Spain exceed the European average. This is clear from the book 'Between selfies and whatsapps', which aims to be a current diagnosis on the safety of minors on the Internet.

Maialen Garmendia, one of the co-authors of the book, believes that there is also greater awareness of online risks. "If there is more use, it is evident that there is more exposure to risks, but the truth is that the percentage of those who suffer damage is less."

     A good example of this is that, although bullying is the most damaging risk, "face-to-face is more frequent than on-line, so we should not blame technology", says this expert.

The authors of the book, nevertheless, consider that, beyond the risks, the opportunities of the early access to the technologies must be analyzed and they have revealed some data about the carried out study.

     Thus, it is clear that for minors, their smartphone is something that allows them to be more connected, both with their friends (55%) and with their family (25%). In addition, one in four feels that they are safer when they carry their smartphone, which also allows them, at 19%, to organize their lives more easily. That is to say, that these technological tools have become "something fundamental for their social well-being" because "they develop their lives through technologies".

The report points out that, as far as penetration of smartphones is concerned, there is no socio-economic gap in our country. Something that does occur as far as access to computers is concerned. This worries the authors of the report, in the sense that these PCs could reduce the gap in technological skills.

     In addition, this report indicates that parents tend to monitor what their children do with the smartphone as well as with a mobile phone. That is to say, although technical supervision and control by gps can be done, the parents are at the crossroads of protecting their children and respecting their privacy. Therefore, they do not supervise everything they can out of respect for the privacy of their children.