At a youth-wellbeing symposium in Selfoss this week, President Halla Tómasdóttir voiced strong concern over the growing influence of smartphones on young people’s mental health.
According to an article in Vísir, she warned that constant screen use is “robbing us of our inner and social peace.”
The event, titled Key to the Well-Being of Children and Adolescents, was held yesterday at the high school, Fjölbrautaskóli Suðurlands, and brought together educators, parents, and policymakers to discuss children’s welfare.
Halla, attending as guest of honour, used her address to urge a cultural rethink of how families and schools manage technology.
Children “Working Full-Time” on Screens
Citing international research, Halla noted that children in Western countries now spend around nine hours a day on their phones, with more than five of those on social media. “That’s more than a full-time job in front of a screen,” she observed.
Although she stopped short of calling the habit an addiction, the President described behaviour that closely resembles one.
“When we forget our phone, we immediately start looking for it. We pick it up again and again and have no control over it,” she said. “This has robbed us of our inner peace, our social peace, and our ability to talk to one another.”
Halla emphasised that much of what people encounter online offers little emotional nourishment. “There is very little there that nourishes us,” she said. “Looking each other in the eye, caring for one another, daring to talk about love. These are the things that sustain us.”
