O B S: Children in Europe are at risk by social networks, urgent action is needed

The World Health Organization (OBSH) has called for urgent action in Europe, underlining concern that the uncontrollized use of social networks is growing among children, exposing them to the risk of dependence on online games and negative effects on mental health.

Director of O BSH for Europe, Hans Kluge, said excessive use of social networks has led to an increase in depression, kindness, anxiety and low performance in school among teenagers. He stressed that immediate and sustained measures are needed to address this problem.

In 2022, 11% of teenagers showed signs of harmful use of social networks, a 4% increase compared to the year 2018, when this figure was 7%. The data has been collected by a poll involving 280,000 children from 44 countries in Europe, Central Asia and Canada.

Another concern is the use of online games, which affects a third of teenagers, with 22% spending more than four hours each day playing. This phenomenon is most common among Romanian teenagers, where up to 28% of them are affected, while the lowest is in the Netherlands with only 3%.

O BSH requires that authorities and society cooperate to protect children from the harmful effects of technology and ensure that they grow up in a healthy and balanced environment./Periscopi/