Education Minister: ''Children's access to social networks only with parental consent is a good thing''

Interim Minister of Education and Research, Daniel David, stated that minors' access to social networks should be allowed only with parental consent, underlining the importance of parental supervision in an increasingly complex digital context.

"Only with parental consent seems like a good thing to me," the minister said. "If it's done illegally, the parent must be careful what happens to their children."

• Screen exposure in the digital age

Daniel David recalled that, two decades ago, medical and psychological standards recommended prohibiting children's exposure to screens, but the evolution of research and socio-technological reality has changed the perspective. "20 years ago, various associations said that it is not good to expose children to screens. Meanwhile, studies show that, in the midst of the industrial revolution, the lack of exposure can lead to losses of competitive advantages," he explained.

The minister draws attention to the risk of repeating the mistakes of the past: "If we again block and close things without a solid data base, in ten years we could realize that we were wrong, and our children have lost opportunities."

• Gaming, a potential ally of education

The official supports the integration of gaming into the educational process, as a complement to classical methods, not as a replacement for them. "I have seen that some are scared of gaming in teaching methods. If we do not introduce such methods, I am afraid that we will become educational reservations," warned Daniel David. The minister declared that he is for the "wide-scale' introduction of technology in schools, but in a context of ethics and safety for children: "I am for the wide-scale introduction of technology in schools, but I said very clearly - in a context of ethics and safety for children. This means that you have to be careful to see what the specialists say, how much exposure to the screen, and the phone, and the smart board, and the television and so on, how you do that exposure, so that it does not create discrepancies between those who can afford it and those who cannot afford it, and I never said that classical education must be replaced, I said that in addition to classical education, which I want to make better, that is why we have training programs for modern teaching methods, and not all of them are based on technology, we must gradually bring the technology area there, but constrained ethically and by the safety of children". The minister also said that the phone cannot be used during educational activities unless the teacher's consent is obtained: "The phone cannot be used during educational activities except with the agreement of the teacher. The problem is that many do not assume this role and do not implement the law. The school's internal regulations should help the teacher implement these rules and I have seen schools that work very well: when children enter the classroom they have a special cabinet where they put their phones, when they go out for a break they eventually let them have access to them to talk to their parents or do other activities, they can take them out of the cabinet if the teacher says that in lesson X we have a homework and using the phone helps, for example, implementing that homework, but either everyone must have access, or others must have other means of accessing that information. The rules are there, but they must be assumed by the teacher". The minister pleaded for a balanced approach regarding children's access to technology: protection and supervision, but also adaptation to the realities of a constantly changing world.