When do we start talking about smartphone addiction?

How has the use of digital media changed during the coronavirus pandemic?

Corona has put us in a dangerous digital trap because many analogue meetings have been cancelled. As adults, we have to constantly establish a digital-analogue balance, which is particularly difficult for people who have not acquired strong self-regulatory skills.

Development-oriented media education assumes that children in particular should develop analogue, haptic and self-regulatory skills in the sensitive years between the ages of eight and 14 - as a basis for a healthy approach to the digital world later on.
Christine Bär

Will we be able to reduce screen time again after corona?

I'm optimistic about that. This high utilisation was mainly due to the limited opportunities. As soon as children and young people have the opportunity, they want to be together with their friends.
Daniel Süss

When it's raining outside, children can sometimes use digital media for longer. If the sun shines the next day, this exception is over again.

Stefan Aufenanger

How can my child find the right balance between media time and other leisure activities?

It is crucial that your child does not neglect other activities such as playing, meeting friends and doing things with the family because of media time. The balance should be handled dynamically and not with rigid rules. If it's raining outside, children can sometimes use digital media for longer. If the sun shines the next day, this exception is over again.
Stefan Aufenanger

Are there official recommendations for sensible media use from a health perspective?

There are official recommendations, for example from the WHO. These state that children under the age of two should not be exposed to screen media. Children of toddler age should get three hours of exercise a day. It is also advisable to limit screen time at any age. Switch off screens before going to bed and switch off digital media at night. This both ensures a better night's sleep.
Daniel Betschart, Programme Manager Media Competence, Pro Juventute

People with unhealthy mobile phone use often use it as a coping strategy to escape a problem.

Daniel Betschart

When do we start talking about smartphone addiction?

From a scientific point of view, there is no official definition of smartphone addiction. Furthermore, it is not the device itself that triggers an addiction, but how I handle and use it.

People who develop an unhealthy or problematic relationship with their mobile phone often use it as a coping strategy. In most cases, there are other problems or disorders behind this. Digital devices then offer a way to escape. This escape can become a risky activity and end in addiction-like behaviour.
Daniel Betschart

How can I prevent my child from becoming a victim of body shaming?

Basically, we should also act positively beyond the online context, encourage the child and live a body positivity, a positive body image. This starts with parents who don't constantly reduce their children to whether or not they have put on a kilo.

The topic of nutrition should not have a higher priority in everyday family life, but the child as a person should take centre stage. What they do, what makes them tick, how they interact with others. This gives me a good foundation. And when silly comments are made, we have to support the child and explain to them that comments can sometimes be positive and sometimes negative. That's normal.
Ulla Autenrieth, professor and media expert