The priest proposed to equate gadgets with alcohol and allow them only from 18 years of age

“Smartphones change a child’s consciousness and make him addicted”

To protect children from the danger of forever losing touch with the real world, it is necessary to limit their access to smartphones and the Internet. Priest Fyodor Lukyanov, chairman of the Patriarchal Commission on Family Issues, Protection of Motherhood and Childhood, and rector of the Church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Petrovsky Park, spoke about this.

“Today, many parents, being captive of their phone, calmly give smartphones to their children. If you want to lose your children, you can give them access to the Internet from an early age. But if you are worried about their development, then until the age of 18, like alcohol or cigarettes, no child should hold a smartphone in their hands,” Fyodor Lukyanov said on the “Traditions” program on March 9.

According to the priest, smartphones change a child’s consciousness and make him cognitively dependent. When the abbot spoke with the developers of the algorithms that are now used in social networks and applications, they said that they were creating a “third hemisphere.” Accordingly, the two previous hemispheres become inferior.

“Our gymnasium, which I head, has 150 students. We conducted the following experiment: we organized trips and created normal communication between the children. As a result, a queue appeared in front of the library, and the children began to communicate in groups between classes. A full-fledged team appeared, with common goals and objectives. For us it was natural, but our children are constantly in a state of infantilism and digital loneliness,” Fyodor Lukyanov said with regret.

The priest noted that the modern world does not need to raise children into adults, but does exactly the opposite: after all, an infantile person is an ideal consumer for corporations. In the short term, it is beneficial for producers of goods and services that a person does not have children and beliefs: every day they buy new toys and bring huge profits…

“But this is not in our interests! – the abbot called. – Instead of virtuality, children should strive for real life. But after turning 18, a person can make independent decisions about how to use gadgets correctly: what’s wrong if he starts using a digital assistant? The main thing is that an adult person has already formed cognitive sovereignty and will not follow someone else’s trajectory, but will look for his own path.