The strong impact of adults absorbed by cell phones on children and young people

They've just finished dinner, are sitting on the couch, and the preteen daughter is telling her mother she received an offensive message on Instagram. Maybe it's a silly thing, but it made her feel bad... However, her mother is engrossed in her own phone, answering the WhatsApp messages she hasn't been able to read during the day. The girl falls silent, picks up her smartphone , and starts looking at TikTok... Does this image sound familiar?

Online harassment, or cyberbullying, is a worrying reality that affects, to a greater or lesser extent, one in three minors in Spain. Worldwide, according to the OECD, 23 percent of high school students report experiencing online harassment several times a month. Given the importance of the family environment in addressing or preventing it, research has investigated the role of family supervision and the cell phone use of responsible adults in the emergence of these behaviors.

Parental phubbing is a recent phenomenon that involves being distracted by a cell phone and not paying attention to a child during an interaction. The word, used colloquially in English, comes from the combination of the words snub (ignore) and phone (telephone); therefore, in Spanish, some have translated it as "ningufoneo" (ignoring).

This analysis focused on exploring how this lack of attention might relate to the development of risky behaviors in children and adolescents. We also considered whether there were any differences based on gender or age. To answer these questions, among others, a survey study was conducted in Aragon (Spain) with 1,554 primary and secondary school students between the ages of 10 and 18.

Parental supervision of children's internet use and social media communications has been confirmed to be a protective factor against becoming either aggressors or victims of cyberbullying . It has also been confirmed that when parents tend to focus on their cell phones while sharing conversation time with their children, the children are more likely to assume the role of aggressor or victim in their online interactions.

One in four of these students surveyed reported being ignored by their father or mother while looking at their cell phone: 23 percent of girls and 25 percent of boys said they were phubbed by their mother, and 28.1 percent of girls and 28.9 percent of boys by their father.

If we break down the results by gender, we find that phubbing has more consequences among men, who are more likely to be aggressors, while parental supervision is more effective in preventing cyberviolence among women. Regarding age, parental supervision decreases significantly among adolescents aged 15 and over. However, its positive effect at this age is similar to that of other age groups, so maintaining supervision would be ideal.

On the other hand, although parental phubbing negatively affects all age groups, it is especially worrying among children between the ages of 10 and 12 when it comes to becoming cyberbullies.

These results suggest that family supervision of adolescents' use of social media and the internet helps them navigate the virtual world in a healthy and safe manner.

It is not, therefore, a matter of prohibiting the use of mobile devices, which minors may consider a violation of their independence, but rather of conscious and constructive supervision of their use to prevent risky behaviors, such as cyberbullying. This should be continued over time, given the positive effect it has even in the older age group.

However, digital education provided by families is not the only necessary element for achieving healthy personal development. The way parents use their electronic devices can act as a negative role model for children and adolescents. And the fact that children may perceive they are ignored when their family members are using their mobile phones can further promote "exclusionary behavior," which interferes with relationships between parents and their children and can lead to risky online behaviors such as cyberbullying.

Prevention, therefore, must include raising awareness among families about positive parenting strategies that include supervision and setting a good example.

Responsible use of social media and the internet involves teaching children the importance of respect on the internet, which is known as "netiquette" (an acronym for "net" and "etiquette," which refers to socially acceptable standards of conduct). The rules of netiquette include, among others, respecting the privacy of others (not sharing images or information about others without permission), interacting with others respectfully, always verifying sources, and helping if someone is being harassed. In short, behaving toward others online as we would like to be behaved toward us.

But, in addition to netiquette, teaching responsible use also means everyone learns a new way of interacting with cell phones as a family. In this new landscape where devices and social media hold so much sway over our attention, it's important to prioritize in-person communication when at home.

(*) Tatiana Íñiguez Berrozpe, Full Professor of Sociology, University of Zaragoza; Ana Cebollero Salinas, Professor, Faculty of Education, University of Zaragoza; Carmen Elboj, Full Professor, University of Zaragoza; Pablo Bautista Alcaine, Interim Professor, University of Zaragoza. (**) The Conversation is a non-profit organization that seeks to share ideas and academic knowledge with the public. This article is reproduced here under a Creative Commons license.