The city of Florence, Italy, has launched a first-of-its-kind center in the country against digital addiction, seeking to help young children and teenagers “detox” from the internet.
Rather than promote bans on internet-connected devices and social media platforms, Florence’s local government detailed that the “Discovery Center” will tackle the issue of digital addiction among the city’s youth by offering ways for children and teenagers aged between 10 and 25 years to “disconnect” from the digital world though real-world activities in collaboration with the city’s youth, health, and sports authorities.
The center aims to achieve its goals by encouraging regular social interactions among the youth through board games, cooperative activities, arts-and-crafts, workshops, sports, and other group activities — promoting physical and mental wellbeing, socialization, and a “better balance between time spent online and offline.”
The project also aims to assist parents assess the use of digital devices by their young children to establish “family rules to foster a balanced relationship with technology starting in early childhood.”
“We will not simply propose bans, but rather an innovative approach based on two pillars: guided disconnection and the promotion of mindful technology use, to transform young people from passive consumers into active participants in their own lives,” Ester Macrì, head of the participating educational consultant ReteSviluppo, said according to the Florence Mayor’s office.
“The Discover Center aims to serve as a hub open to the local community, to analyze the phenomenon, launch practical initiatives and workshops, and train the educational community, thereby rebuilding the social fabric that digital isolation threatens to fray,” she continued.
Per the Florence government, the center will begin operations this year after Summer with an initial pilot phase that will run through December. The project aims to implement social initiatives throughout the entire city across public spaces such as youth and sports centers, libraries, and schools.
Although the center is stablished with an educational and not clinical nature, cases of observed social withdrawal, isolation, and psychological distress will see the center coordinate with local health authorities to facilitate further assistance.
Valerio Mari, director of Central Tuscany’s Health Authority, stressed upon the necessity of a project of that nature in the Italian region — pointing out that it is part of an approach “focused on fostering responsibility, far removed from a mindset of prohibitions or simple bans.”
The subject of social media bans on teenagers has become the center of widespread debate across Europe and other parts of the world. This week, the French parliament announced a bill banning children under 15 from utilizing social media.
According to the Italian newspaper La Stampa, a highly similar bill than France’s remains “stalled” at the Italian parliament for over a year and was introduced long before France had even introduced their now-approved one. Unnamed sources affirmed to the newspaper that one of the main reasons holding the bill at bay are concerns on the level of restrictions that would have to be introduced for the ban to be effective “without the law appearing too restrictive or an infringement of civil liberties.”