Recently, the "Symposium on Anti-Addiction for Minors" hosted by Future.com was successfully held in Beijing. The meeting focused on exploring effective ways to alleviate teenagers' mobile phone addiction. The theme of this symposium is "Working together to weave a tight protective net to build a new digital childhood ecology", attracting experts and scholars from all walks of life to discuss the problems and response strategies of minors using mobile phones.
According to the "5th National Survey on Internet Usage of Minors" released in December 2023, mobile phones have become the main device for 91.3% of minors to access the Internet, and more than 60% of minors have personal mobile phones. This data attracted widespread attention from experts at the meeting. Li Guoqiang, deputy secretary-general of the China Working Committee for Care for the Next Generation, pointed out that excessive use of mobile phones brings three major risks to the physical and mental health of adolescents: first, in terms of physiological health, long-term screen use may lead to vision loss, poor sleep quality, cervical spine problems, etc.; second, in terms of mental health, addiction to mobile phones may cause Internet addiction, social anxiety, etc.; finally, in terms of cognitive development, the information cocoon caused by algorithm recommendation may inhibit the cultivation of critical thinking among adolescents.
Professor Bu Wei of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences mentioned that the digital environment has changed the family, education and social models of adolescents, and digital literacy education is urgently needed to help young people improve their understanding and use of digital media. Professor Bu stressed that the cultivation of critical thinking and scientific thinking is the key to improving the digital rights of minors.
Against the background of rapid development of AI technology, experts at the meeting believe that artificial intelligence models should be fully utilized to provide new ideas for minors to prevent addiction. Sun Hongyan of the China Youth Research Center suggested that parents should guide their children to explore new technologies and formulate usage management measures suitable for each child in combination with personalized AI solutions. At the same time, companies should also use child-friendly as the principle of product design and launch AI models suitable for minors to promptly report their children's usage behavior to parents and teachers.
In addition, researcher Chu Zhaohui pointed out that preventing minors from getting addicted to mobile phones requires the joint efforts of families, schools and society. Give your child the initiative to use mobile phones to help reduce the risk of addiction. To achieve this goal, all parties should create conditions to give children enough time and space to choose from and cultivate their self-management capabilities.
In November 2024, the Cyberspace Administration of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission issued the "Guidelines for the Construction of the Mobile Internet Minor Model", encouraging all parties to jointly participate in the construction of the minor model to enhance the security and controllability of the use of mobile phones for minors. However, experts also pointed out that the current anti-addiction tools have not yet met the ideal practical standards, and parents and schools are facing the dilemma of "difficulty in managing mobile phones".