On this Thursday morning, around thirty students are busy working on their tablets, earphones in. This 6th grade class at Notre-Dame middle school in Besançon, in eastern France, is taking part in a workshop on digital technology and social media use.

“Even adults overuse social media sometimes,” says Alice, 11. Like many of her classmates, she observes how people behave around her and notices the excesses.

“The more you watch it, the more you’re hooked, and that makes you want to watch it more.” Maïssa, 12, is describing the well-known phenomenon of screen addiction.

Faced with the risks linked to social media use, policymakers around the world — especially in Europe — are currently pushing for a radical measure: banning social media for young people. Could this be the solution to guarantee their well-being?

The children themselves seem quite aware of the risks. “When I spend too much time on it, I tell myself that it’s not great for my health, that I should do something else,” Alice explains. “So I go out in the garden or read a book.”

Rather than banning access altogether, experts suggest — among other things — educating and raising young people’s awareness so they use social media in a healthier, more controlled way. In other words: giving them the tools they need to navigate the internet more calmly and confidently.

To achieve this, more and more initiatives are emerging, especially in the form of school workshops. That’s the case in Besançon, where this 6th grade class is testing an innovative educational tool: a fun app called BeDiCi — for Become Digital Citizen, that combines quizzes, role-play scenarios and videos. Among the topics covered are cyberbullying, artificial intelligence and digital addiction.

To find out how the students reacted to this workshop, watch our video report at the top of the page!

Tanishk Saha & Justine Hagard