WHO advocates limiting the use of smartphones
The World Health Organisation is calling on countries around the world to consider the possibility of imposing restrictions on the use of smartphones, similar to tobacco products, amid an increase in mental problems among European teenagers due to games and social networks, TASS reports
According to Natasha Azzopardi Muscat, the Director of the Division of Country Health Polices and Systems at WHO Regional Office for Europe, among the measures aimed to combat the negative impact of technology on adolescents may be limiting the age of smartphone owners, controlling prices for devices, as well as banning their use in certain places, similar to the ban on smoking in public spaces. “Maybe it's also time to start thinking about places where certain digital devices should not be used. As with anything else, you can use these tools well and effectively,” she said.
Natasha Azzopardi Muscat believes the uncontrolled use of smartphones by teenagers can ‘affect their educational outcomes, their mental health and wellbeing, their productivity in the workforce’.
