It was created on the initiative of 20 parents of the sixth grade of a primary school in Mendoza and in a few weeks there were already 300 in the group. The challenge is to search Strategies to prevent children from using cell phones and try to make sure they don’t have any of their own up to 13 years.
“It has to be one Pact between adults so that the majority adheres to it. And that the boy who does not use the cell phone is not excluded by his friends and classmates,” says Guillermo Barletta, father of a 12-year-old student at the San Nicolás private school in Chacras de Coria, Mendoza.
They called for the initiative Parental Pact. They created a WhatsApp group and a website (pactoparental.org) with a manifesto to reduce their children’s cell phone use and delay access to social networks.
“Science suggests that children should not have cell phones until the age of 13 and no social networks until the age of 16, and that is the goal of this parent group,” emphasizes Barletta.
Another father involved in the creation of the group, Nacho Castro, communicator and publicist, argued: “I’m not here to wait for the state to do something, I’m taking care of my children.”
Castro speaks of one Industry designed to attract and maintain attentionwhich “burns out the brains” of our children and our children too. “We are already adults, we can take our own misery into our own hands. Our children, on the other hand, are not able to recognize when it is too much when they experience something like this.” amount of stimuli “It’s designed precisely to keep them connected,” he says.
They laid the foundation for this co-parenting agreement on the Internet. The Parental Pact is an agreement between mothers and fathers to reduce cell phone use in children and adolescents. Encourages screen-free time for the benefit of play, creativity, and healthy bonds.
“A collective commitment to accompany them, care for them and set boundaries in a world where everything is pushing for hyper-connectivity affects attention, sleep, self-esteem and mental health“They argue.
Families commit to respecting a range of guidelines and working with other families and the school to prioritize the overall wellbeing of children and young people. “The pact makes adults responsible for the physical and emotional well-being of their children,” the manifesto says.
They argue that childhood requires the presence, support and boundaries of adults. And starting next year, parents from San Nicolás School and other participating schools will commit to this Delay the introduction of the first mobile phone for children until the age of 13 and ban social networks until the age of 16.
They also agreed to implement this ban with dialogue, presence, clear boundaries and off-screen leisure activities.
The idea is supported by the increasing scientific studies proving this Damage caused by addiction and excessive use of screens.
“95% of teachers believe that cell phones affect mental health. Minors spend 4 to 6 hours a day in front of screens. 65% have their first smartphone before the age of 9,” are some of the reasons given by this group of parents to carry out the mobile phone restriction project.
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