Photo: Jacques Boissinot The Canadian Press “I tell you straight away, nothing is excluded. If we have to legislate, we will legislate,” declared Lionel Carmant, emphasizing that “everything is a question of balance between raising awareness among the population and developing the digital skills of young people.”
Katrine Desautels – The Canadian Press
4:33 p.m.
- Quebec
The Legault government has not ruled out legislating on the use of screens for young people and families. This is what the Minister responsible for Social Services, Lionel Carmant, suggested during a speech Monday morning in Montreal.
While at the International Metavers and Health Symposium, Mr. Carmant announced that the government will soon begin its reflection on the second Quebec Strategy on the use of screens and youth health.
“We want a version that is very adapted to Quebec reality,” declared Mr. Carmant. […] And I tell you straight away, nothing is excluded. If it is necessary to legislate, we will legislate. »
He did not give more details on a possible law, but he stressed that “everything is a question of balance between raising awareness among the population and developing the digital skills of young people”.
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In Quebec, in 2020, 59% of young people aged 13 to 17 used the Internet more than 10 hours per week, a rate of 27% among 6 to 12 year olds.
According to data from the Quebec Survey on tobacco, alcohol, drugs and gambling among high school students, 18% of them often or very often have difficulty stop when browsing the Internet. In addition, 10% of young people report having often or very often tried to spend less time on the Internet, without success.
“Supporting young people”
These data also show that 45.5% of high school students exceed the recommendation associated with their age group with regard to the use of screens in their free time. This applies as much to passive uses (viewing series, films or videos) as to active or interactive uses (video games, chatting or browsing the Internet).
“We absolutely must support our young people in the use of these technologies so that they can understand the risks and use them appropriately. This is an important part of what I see as our role as a government, […] getting them to think about their own screen consumption,” declared Minister Carmant.
He stressed the importance of improving mental health data “both among young and old people.”
Lionel Carmant stressed that current research shows that social networks are transforming the way people perceive themselves, and that this exacerbates anxiety and mental health problems in general. “Not to mention the sleep complications of our young people who use social media well after bedtime,” he added.
The Legault government has already addressed the issues posed by screens in schools. Since this year, Quebec has become the second province, after Ontario, to ban cell phones in class. “I think it was the right solution, but there are a lot of other decisions that need to be made quite quickly,” Mr. Carmant commented.
In the Quebec Strategy on the use of screens and youth health 2022-2025, the emphasis was mainly placed on awareness. She recalled, among other things, that children between 0 and 2 years old should never be exposed to screens and that after this age the use of screens should be limited to one hour per day until entry into school. school.
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