Marc Masip, 36 years old and born in Barcelona, awaited the reflection of cartoonist Chris Ware in the last November issue of The New Yorker in 2016. The American cartoonist illustrated a Thanksgiving dinner table where all the members use their cell phones to review, enhance and share the photos they took that same evening in an attempt to “edit life to turn it into something that is seemingly perfect.” “Representation of happiness,” in Ware’s own words. In the summer of 2016, when the huge impact of smartphones on social relationships was still barely talked about, Masip posted on Twitter (now on his phone screen, he was a kid thinking about the moment. “It was a very shocking image and TV even called me to comment on it,” says the psychologist and founder of the Disconnect project, launched in 2012 to provide therapeutic treatment to technology-dependent minors between the ages of 11 and 17 and to provide educational support or troubleshoot problems. mental health.
Masip is now responsible for three centers in Barcelona, Madrid and Malaga, where 420 children recover in day clinics and in so-called therapeutic classrooms, which replace traditional educational centers and offer an academic program adapted to the needs of these patients, with resources like educators personalizing learning techniques in six-person classrooms. All under the economic umbrella of the National Social Security Institute through school insurance, so families only have to pay a “residual” portion of the monthly fees.
Masip, who took part this November in the debate “Children and screens, what do we do?”, organized by the San Pablo Ceu Foundation as part of its series of conversations #CEUTalks, answers this newspaper's questions.
Questions. Why did you think about the dangers of technology in 2012?
Answer. Disconnect was created at a time when society was not yet aware of the risks associated with dependence on a cell phone. The dependency created by technology has exceeded all education and health forecasts. Back then they called me crazy, now they certainly called me a visionary. What we then launched was the first psychoeducational program on addiction to technology, social networks and video games. We saw many young people addicted, but without understanding the origin of the pathologies. Now we know that the pathology itself is usually hidden before using the device, which makes this problem appear like a giant loudspeaker. For example, girls suffering from anorexia use social networks to compare their bodies, or in some cases, which starts as truancy, it occurs due to the confinement and time the children spend locked in their rooms with their devices a social phobia. It is important to remember that the WHO still does not recognize mobile and technology addiction as a disease, as has been the case with video games since 2022. I think it's a matter of time.
Q Now the consequences are visible. Has demand increased in your centers?
R. In 2012 we started with individual sessions, but quickly realized that one hour a week was not enough, there was no consistency or therapeutic alliance. Then we prepare the next phase: day stay in the hospital and therapeutic classes. The children come to our facilities for more than six hours every day and take part in individual and group therapy, workshops and family therapy. This point is imperative, we need the involvement of families, otherwise it will be impossible to move forward with their children. The academic part is reinforced in therapeutic lessons. We have classrooms with six students, in ESO and Baccalaureate they have a single teacher every week, personalized learning techniques, they have no homework. They have a psychologist, a psychiatrist and at the same time their math, language or English classes. Last year we had a 97% success rate in the selectivity test. The majority are children with a mental disorder and we see technology playing an important role in all of them.
Q So do young people who have dropped out of school also come to your centers?
R. No, these are children who want to study but cannot go to a traditional center. A boy who has a phobia or is unwell cannot bear to be in a class with 30 other children. ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) does not work the same in large groups as it does in small ones. For the academic part, we have agreements with educational centers such as the Agora International School – a private center that cares for children aged four months to 18 years – or the Zurich School in Barcelona, Madrid and Malaga, where we spend a month have opened long ago. The children learn in our institutions, although it is the academic centers that later evaluate them and issue the qualifications. There are 100 students per center and we cannot and do not want to accept more. Speaking of day hospital: The average recovery time is one and a half years.
Q What are the advantages of only sending children with illnesses to the same class? Doesn't it take them out of society and into an unrealistic environment?
R. The most important thing is that they are in a safe environment. In the other environment they are wrong. Sometimes parents ask, “Hey, who should my child be with?”…and then it’s that minor who has a more complex or conflicted situation. When the children arrive, they are sick or have special educational needs. These are minors who suffer every day when they go to school. There are many children who go to school every day thinking they want to kill themselves, but they don't tell it, not even to their parents. This is an environment where they are very cared for.
Q Do they continue this support when they come to university?
R. Since they are already of age, you have to prepare them for going out. In any educational center, the transition from high school to university is a leap. Also for these children. By passing through here they gain a learning method and autonomy. In the event of a relapse, therapeutic support is available.
Q How much does a month cost in one of your centers?
R. 80% is covered by the state through school insurance, which is accessible to every family. It has been shown that the public cannot cope with this, and the state is helping them in this way. We normally charge nine months in advance. You play along until they start paying you while Disconnect takes care of it. As a center you have to meet a pretty brutal set of requirements. I know four or five other centers have this, but only a few others.
Q How do you handle teenagers coming to you with a serious cell phone addiction problem?
R. Treating cell phone addiction is complex because it is known that it is an element that has to be lived with, rather than an addiction to a substance that can be eliminated forever. Cell phones can be used responsibly, even if we are still in trial and error. The withdrawal syndrome in these cases has a very high and strong peak, but subsides very quickly, unlike drugs where the need for consumption remains high. Man's greatest desire is to be free, and on a mobile phone he enjoys a lot of freedom. They use it most often in bed and in the bathroom, more often at night than during the day because there is less control. There are children who, if they hadn't had a cell phone soon, wouldn't be sick now. For example, if you give a 12-year-old child the freedom to lock himself in his room with a cell phone, you cannot expect him to use it well. Many of the children who come to us with a pornography addiction started out that way. Your brain is not adequately prepared for this potential. The most serious symptoms we see in adolescents occur in the bedroom.
Q When they ask families not to give their children smartphones so quickly, I imagine the reaction is that they don't want to exclude them from the circle of friends, since the main communication channel is WhatsApp or Instagram.
R. We explain to them that there is no trauma, it's a lie that they won't have friends because they don't have a cell phone. If you are not notified of birthdays because you are not in the WhatsApp group, the problem is not with the chat but with the difficulties that the boy is having. The most important thing is that they understand that using the cell phone does not make them more integrated, but rather creates more social isolation. We must demand that parents train and take action. It's partly true that they haven't been informed of the dangers and the tech companies won't because their children are the product. It's a problem that overwhelmed us, we didn't see it coming. Now the parents are starting to raise their heads. I also tell you that there are children with diagnosed pathologies who do not follow the treatment because their parents deny it out of fear.
Q Do you observe that children find it difficult to maintain personal relationships?
R. Teenagers' relationships are cowardly, they have a great ability to behave through screens and say everything: “I love you, you are my colleague”, but then in face-to-face conversation they have lost the ability for this real reciprocity. We need to take a step back from technology and restore human connection. It is true that not everything is up to families, we must control technology companies, set limits on them, for example ban infinite scrolling, which is addictive. The creator of the Infinite Scroll himself has admitted in various interviews that he is very sorry for having done it. The double blue check is another control tool. What regulates technology, the self-control of a 12-year-old child? We urgently need state laws.
Q Would you say no to cell phones for families up to the age of 16?
R. 16, not to mention another barbarity (regarding 18). I would tell families if they have children, it's something to keep in mind. Screens are very comfortable when they are small, but when pathologies appear they become very uncomfortable. How many of these cases could have been avoided if the family had acted more correctly? You have to learn, you have to read and you have to know how to say no.
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