[News] NEW INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES

[Mr.Jhorjan]

 

MY. Hidalgo Vicario

Executive Director of Comprehensive Pediatrics

 

«The use of ICTs entails many benefits: educational, communicative, entertainment..., but it also entails many risks: violence, pornography, addiction, cyberbullying, grooming...Adults are unaware of the technical aspects and underestimate the possible risks. "It is necessary that health professionals, parents and teachers be trained to carry out prevention, early identification and treatment of problems associated with ICTs."
 

The new information and communication technologies
The new information and communication technologies (ICTs) constitute those tools and programs that process, manage, transmit and share information through technological supports. ICTs have revolutionized today's world since the 80s, and are present in most Spanish homes and schools. Currently, its use is very widespread and the information included will last forever (personal, professional, photos, videos...), which is called the digital footprint or identity.

The onset is around the 2nd-3rd year of age – the so-called digital natives – and its use increases with age. According to data from the INE, 2013, 84% of Spanish minors use the Internet at home, more than 41% of Spanish children have their own mobile phone at age 11, 75% at age 13 and 90% at age 15. . The systems most used by adolescents are: smartphones and tablets. Digital immigrants are those who have not had contact with ICTs since birth and have come to have some type of relationship with them according to their needs or concerns.

 

Children start using ICTs at very early ages, when they have not yet developed the ability to understand terms such as: respect for oneself or others, the importance of privacy, sensitive information that should not be revealed, intellectual property. or information not appropriate for their age, etc. Adolescence is also a very problematic and high-risk period; Most of their health problems are due to their behaviors and habits, with potentially serious consequences for their current and future lives: accidents, violence, drug use, risky sexual behavior and inappropriate use of new ICTs, among others. At this time, the feeling of false invulnerability is typical, the need for intimacy and experimentation, action predominates over reflection, there is no concern about future consequences, adult norms are rejected and, in the search for independence , they think they can solve their problems without the help of adults; Therefore, it is a particularly vulnerable group. The WHO estimates that 70% of premature deaths in adults are due to behaviors that begin in adolescence. It must be taken into account that most of these behaviors are preventable.

The use of ICTs entails many benefits: educational, they allow obtaining and sharing information in different formats, a work tool, collaborating with groups, entertainment, etc., but it also entails many risks. On the other hand, adults are unaware of the technical aspects and underestimate the possible risks.

Children and adolescents know how to use ICTs, but they do not know how to do so responsibly, nor are they aware of the multiple threats that threaten them: inadequate information with violent content, pornography, loss of privacy, identity theft, cyberbullying (harassment among minors). through technological means), grooming (digital harassment by an adult of a minor for sexual purposes), sexting (dissemination of sexual images or videos produced by the sender himself, mainly through the mobile phone) and addiction to screens, among others. The consequences range from impaired performance, learning and school failure, distancing from their environment (family, friends), psychosomatic problems, sleep, emotional and psychiatric disorders, to even suicide. Given the seriousness of these conditions, a multi- and interdisciplinary treatment coordinated in different areas is required to address them: family, school, social, police and judicial.

 

https://www.pediatriaintegral.es/publicacion-2015-11/las-nuevas-tecnologias-de-la-informacion-y-comunicacion/