In just over a year, families, professionals, and public opinion have converged on a single demand: postponing the arrival of the smartphone until the end of adolescence.
Board member of Adolescència Lliure de Mòbils Catalunya and ethics professor at IQS – Ramon Llull University.
Recently, Josep Angel Guimerà, a communication professor at UAB, shared his surprise with me over coffee regarding the social moment we are experiencing: for the first time since the emergence of digital technologies and the internet, society has taken a stand and demanded a review of the adoption of a technology. It seemed that the vector of digital innovation was one-directional, but for the first time in thirty years, society is questioning whether we have gone too far and is calling to delay the introduction of the smartphone. Right now, smartphone ownership among twelve-year-old children is around 80%. Is this change possible? Will we be able to take a step back and limit its use to foster better child development?
This is not a fleeting or merely local dynamic. When, in November 2023, a group of families from Poblenou (Barcelona) decided to challenge the entrenched idea that secondary school is the right time to give a child a phone, and tens of thousands of families across Spain joined in, we never thought we would get this far. Wait Until 8th had already been active globally, while Smartphone Free Childhood gained traction by riding this wave. In Spain, the movement grew rapidly, with support from the pediatric profession, which issued statements recommending smartphones be introduced at the end of adolescence, and from the Ministry of Youth’s expert commission, which explicitly identified 16 years as the appropriate age.
At this point, no one doubts that the smartphone is an unnecessary source of conflict: it increases distraction, hinders concentration, and provides unrestricted access to harmful and inappropriate content. Even when these risks do not fully materialize, one fact remains clear: adolescents now spend over four hours a day on their phones—an enormous opportunity cost. We were too naive, embracing every technological novelty uncritically, while digital companies exploited this intimate gateway—a phone that has become an extension of the body—to take advantage of our vulnerabilities.
Some argue that promoting a mobile-free adolescence is a step backward. Quite the opposite: this movement proves that technology must serve people, not dictate our pace of adoption. Saying no to what we find dehumanizing reaffirms that we have sovereignty over the future we want to build. There is an urgent need to slow down the accelerating digital dynamic and protect key developmental stages, where young people require stable points of reference.
A Catalan-level commission led by the Department of Education is currently assessing a regulation to make schools mobile-free spaces. The challenge is to balance this with quality digital education, ensuring students acquire computational and algorithmic thinking skills without needing a smartphone in their pockets. This also means reevaluating the recent push for digitalization in schools, which has not yielded the expected results—perhaps even the opposite.
Ultimately, families remain the key to change, as they are the ones introducing smartphones earlier than recommended. That is why we must continue to promote better education, awareness of risks, and agreements between families. These agreements help ease social pressure on children, ensuring they are not excluded from peer groups. In some schools where such agreements have been implemented, nearly 80% of first-year secondary students now do not own a smartphone.
Despite how much the world has changed, human nature remains the same. The fundamental challenges—learning to socialize, developing critical thinking, making mistakes, and taking responsibility—are still as relevant today as ever. Our relationship with technology must not become an excuse to neglect the task of humanization, but rather a chance to reflect on what truly matters in education and parenting. If we set clear boundaries and integrate technology wisely—or even reject it where necessary—we will be ensuring our well-being, our future, and that of the next generations. And right now, postponing smartphone adoption until late adolescence seems like the most sensible option.
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