The digital giants Meta and TikTok will appear at the end of November before the deputies of the National Assembly responsible for studying the impact of screens and social networks on young Quebecers.
“Everyone agrees that we need to better regulate the use of screens, that’s undeniable. Everyone is also of the opinion that the platforms play a big role, occupy a big place in the lives of young people, so we want to hear from them too,” argues CAQ MP Amélie Dionne, president of the Special Commission to examine on their omnipresence in the lives of children and adolescents.
Parliamentarians are notably evaluating the possibility of banning smartphones from schools, not just classrooms. The Parti Québécois is in favor of it and Minister Bernard Drainville has not ruled it out. There is also talk of a minimum age for access to social networks.
Meta Canada and TikTok Canada will therefore be in parliamentary committee on November 25 to answer questions from Quebec elected officials.
By then, MPs will be on the ground. After hearing from numerous scientists and representatives of the education network, the Special Commission is arriving this week in schools in eastern Quebec to take the pulse of the students.
The tour began Tuesday on the North Shore in a secondary education establishment in the indigenous community of Pessamit and in an elementary school in Baie-Comeau. The next few days will be devoted to institutions in Bas-Saint-Laurent and Gaspésie. The deputies will then travel to Quebec, Montreal and the Outaouais. All interested citizens are also invited to participate through an online consultation.
Schools that have tightened the screw
Elected officials chose the establishments with the aim of hearing from primary schoolchildren and secondary school adolescents with varied profiles: schools which have tightened the screws on cell phones, others which are more permissive, English-speaking, French-speaking and private schools. and public.
“Following the consultation with the experts, we had information that in municipal environments where sports and cultural infrastructures are very present, this can affect screen time. There are also schools which have more educational tools than in other schools, this is all that we wanted to check by touring the schools and talking to the students, if all this has an impact on the teaching time. “screen,” says the member for Rivière-du-Loup–Témiscouata.
Amélie Dionne says that the students consulted so far have opened up about their digital habits, those of their parents and the rules that prevail at home regarding screen time. But above all, many highlighted the extent to which cell phones are a social tool for today’s young people.
“We noticed that they use it a lot to talk with their friends. Before, it was the good old telephone, we could spend two or three hours on the phone,” she illustrates.
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