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El Ciudadano

Original article: «Modo Aula»: Especialistas advierten sobre posibles síntomas de abstinencia digital en escolares 

March marks the return to school, and this year brings a significant change in classrooms across the country: the implementation of the amendment to Law 21.801, the General Education Law (LGE), which bans mobile phone use during school hours.

This measure, known as «Class Mode,» aims to enhance focus, social interaction, and learning, while also sparking a debate about its potential impacts on students who are used to being constantly connected to their phones.

Néstor González, an academic from the Department of Psychology and coordinator at the Center for Psychological Care and Integral Health (CAPSI) at La Serena University, explained that «the abrupt reduction in mobile phone use within the school context can induce a range of psychological and behavioral effects in children and adolescents, particularly among those with problematic usage or tendencies towards behavioral addiction to smartphones.»

González, a psychotherapist specializing in mood disorders, elaborated that «scientific literature describes these effects as digital withdrawal symptoms, akin to, though less intense than, those seen in other behavioral addictions.»

Common psychological and behavioral effects include «irritability, frustration, or anger (especially in the first hours or days); anxiety or restlessness (feelings of being ‘empty’, nervousness, or inability to stay still); and difficulty concentrating, as paradoxically, many children and adolescents report worse attention in class precisely when their phones are taken away, because their dopaminergic system is ‘searching’ for the immediate reward that is no longer available,” the academic noted.

Additionally, other symptoms include «intense boredom or craving for the device; recurring thoughts about the phone, repeatedly checking pockets or bags automatically; phantom vibrations; low tolerance for frustration; social isolation or withdrawal, as they do not know how to handle face-to-face interactions without their phones; mood swings; increased negativity; and temporary depressive symptoms or apathy in the first days or weeks.»

At this point, Professor Néstor González emphasized that the intensity of these symptoms «depends on several factors, such as the prior degree of problematic use, since those who already exhibited addictive patterns suffer more; age, as pre-adolescents and early adolescents tend to show more emotional reactions; and the speed of the reduction: the more abrupt it is, the higher the likelihood of acute discomfort,» he stated.

Finally, the expert from La Serena University suggested that «in the medium term (weeks), most experience improvements in sustained attention, sleep, and emotional regulation, but the peak of discomfort typically occurs in the first 3–10 days.»

What Does the Law Entail?

The prohibition and regulation of mobile devices in classrooms applies at all levels of education: preschool, primary, and secondary, and it governs all members of the educational community during curricular activities.

This prohibition includes not only mobile phones but also all devices that allow for telecommunications or access to the internet, except for those institutional devices designated solely for educational use.

For more information regarding this new legislation, you can visit the Class Mode website, enabled by the Ministry of Education.

The Citizen

La entrada Experts Warn of Potential Digital Withdrawal Symptoms in Students Amid New Mobile Phone Ban se publicó primero en El Ciudadano.