Anca Maria is the mother of two girls and a boy. Like many parents, this Romanian woman finds herself wondering: what if technology is turning her children into addicts? “My husband and I spend a lot of time with our children”, she says. “But I think that for a single-parent family, things are more complicated.” In such cases, she believes that mobile phones and tablets are a simple and effective way of keeping children occupied. From a very early age, and perhaps “with serious consequences later on”.
The little devices are in people’s hands, everywhere: in the street, even when walking; in shops, at the risk of knocking others over when responding to some notification. In cafés, bars, schools, offices and everywhere in between, we live with phones in our hands and in front of screens in general.
In 2024, 88.3% of the European population said they used the internet every day, according to Eurostat data. This figure rises to 97.51% for the 16-24 age group.
Today there is one dominant way of accessing the internet: the smartphone. In a 2023 Europe-wide poll, 86.31% said they used their smartphone for this purpose, according to Eurostat data. Here again, 16-24 year-olds stand out: 96.44% of them say they use their phone to go online. The figures are similar across all European countries.
New technologies and social media have profoundly changed the way we all live. But the harmful impacts may be especially so for teenagers, who are going through a crucial period in their development.
Romania, a textbook case
In 2024, the World Health Organisation (WHO) published a study on the use of social media and the prevalence of video gaming among teenagers. The survey, which covers Europe, Central Asia and Canada for the years 2021-2022, offers an insight into the relationship between new media and young people.
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A third (34%) of teenagers play video games on a daily basis, and more than 1 in 5 (22%) play for at least 4 hours. For 12% of them, the amount of time spent gaming is problematic, with boys being more at risk than girls (16% versus 7%). Social networks and social media also feature heavily in the lives of the young people surveyed. 44% of 15-year-old girls say they are in constant contact with their friends. For 11% of young people, their use of social media amounts to a problem.
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According to the WHO survey, the propensity for problematic social media use (SMU) among teenagers varies greatly from one country to another. Such behaviour, which the study suggests is akin to addiction, is especially prevalent in some countries. Romania is one.
Between 2021 and 2022, Romania had the highest prevalence of problematic SMU (22%), all ages and genders combined. It was followed by Malta (18%) and Bulgaria (17%). The lowest figure was recorded in the Netherlands (5%). Overall, 11% of adolescents reported problematic SMU, a prevalence that shows a slight increase since 2018 (when it was at 7%).
The social impact of tech innovations is routinely the subject of speculation. Any correlation between screen time, reduced attention span or even reduced propensity to read remains unproven, for now. Yet the fact remains that excessive gaming and social-media use could, according to the WHO, have real consequences for well-being, particularly among teenagers.
“While most users reported an active or intensive use of social media or video games that was not problematic, it should be noted that a significant increase in problematic use was recorded between 2018 and 2022”, the study points out. “This [increase] implies that a growing number of adolescents are at risk of experiencing social, academic or emotional difficulties in their daily lives.”
But why does Romania come first in the WHO study? For researcher Diana Tăut, interviewed by Romanian educational outlet Edupedu, the explanation could be historical: “We know that Romania is a country where new technologies, including social media and mobile phones, have taken hold very quickly.” This researcher points to what Romanians call the “key-around-the-neck generation”, referring to adults born between the 1960s and 1990s, who would come home from school with a house key around their neck. This generation, she says, has preferred to keep its own children confined within the physical safety of the home. This has meant leaving them at the mercy of virtual environments and phenomena, whose dangers are poorly understood.
Rethinking education
For Tăut, this home environment plays a crucial role. “The first line of intervention is of course parents, [who] must firstly have a minimum level of digital literacy in order to be aware [of the problem] and to be able to lay the foundations of digital literacy in their children and teenagers”, she says. “After all, parents are the first people to put a phone in their child’s hand.”
For Mircea Coșea, a Romanian MP and economics professor, it will not require banning tablets and phones in order to curb young people’s cravings for them. Instead, alternative activities should be offered. “An important role is played by schools, whose curricula and teaching methods need to modernise”, he believes.Striking a balance between the real and the virtual; enabling parental controls; limiting consumption: it all amounts to quite a challenge for parents, teachers, experts and government.
Both the EU Commission and the European Parliament have on several occasions looked into the problems raised by smartphones and the internet. Indeed, in 2023, the Parliament’s Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection sounded the alarm. While acknowledging the positive aspects of social media, the committee noted that its addictive design can cause physical, psychological and material damage. The committee members were particularly concerned about the impact of such addictions on children and teenagers, who are more vulnerable than their elders.
