Values Education: A Necessary Complement to Digital Skills Training
In the face of the rapid social transformation brought about by technological development, the education system has fallen behind. As experts and industry professionals note, the need for education that fosters digital ethics is becoming increasingly evident.
To achieve this, families, professionals, and young people play a leading role.
At Digital Safe for Minors, we advocate guiding young people through their digital engagement at home and at school, fostering dialogue, trust, critical thinking, and inclusivity.
The situation in data
98% of 15-year-olds in the OECD have a smartphone with internet access. By age 10, approximately 70%
Presence and enforcement of device usage rules by families
In Spain, 96% of families set rules for device use at home, but 70% of them struggle to enforce them.
Experts recommend limited use, gradually increasing with age, up to amaximum of one hour per day for children aged 10 to 12.
More than half of young people in Spain express a need for digital disconnection and call for better digital, emotional, and affective education, greater adult guidance, and more open conversations about mental health and relationships
UNICEF’s “Childhood, Adolescence and Digital Well-being” study, which involved more than 100,000 children and adolescents, is the largest of its kind in this field. Among other findings, the report highlights that up to 9% say they have experienced pressure to send erotic or sexual images, 2.9% report blackmail or attempted sextortion, and 5.7% of children under 16 say they have received sexual approaches from adults online.
59% of minors in the UK have accidentally encountered online pornography, up from 38% in 2023
The study “Sex is Kind of Broken Now” also finds that much of the pornography encountered by minors includes violence or degradation: 58% feature choking scenes; 44% depict sex with an unconscious or sleeping person; and 36% involve non-consensual acts, explicit resistance, or rape.
94% of Danish children under age 13 have profiles on at least one social media platform, and more than half of those under 10 do
14% of minors report that their parents use mobile phones or digital platforms more than they do.
With an average daily use of four to five hours, some parents admit that, at times, they set a poor example for young children regarding technology use habits.
“Gaming and sleep habits depend on each of us, but social media is designed to be addictive”
“In Spain, 25% of adolescents report having experienced bullying, nearly 10% cyberbullying, and one in three young people in a relationship acknowledge having experienced control or blackmail through their mobile phones or social media.”
Antonio Rial
Researcher in the study Childhood, Adolescence and Digital Well-being
“We are very concerned about young people, but adult habits are similar. The example we set for our minors has an influence.”
“Children need far more free play and independence in the real world.”
“We are facing the unsupervised immersion of young people into the digital world.”
Silke Müller
EU Digital Ambassador in Germany and author of We Are Losing Our Children
Experts recommend developing digital skills gradually.
The Spanish Association of Pediatrics (AEP) advocates reducing screen time in schools in favor of education that gradually develops digital skills, teaching computational thinking, data protection, and media literacy, which they note “are just as effective and healthier.”
Source: La Vanguardia, 2025.
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Photo by Delcio F.
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