The government of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) rejected by 70 votes to 30, Thursday, the motion of the Parti Québécois (PQ) on the overexposure of young people to screens calling for the tabling of a digital action plan by the government of by June, for implementation from the next school year
The troops of Paul St-Pierre Plamondon (PSPP) invited parliamentarians to take note of a new Australian study which confirms the harmful effect of screens on the development of young children.
The party also pointed out that a longitudinal study by the Quebec Statistics Institute demonstrated a correlation between exposure to screens at a young age and academic performance in elementary school.
Overexposure to screens has a demonstrated impact on the development of cognitive abilities, on health, particularly vision problems, and on attention and behavioral problems in young people, according to the PQ.
He asked that the National Assembly note that many countries have taken action, including France, the Netherlands and Scandinavian countries, to correct this problem.
The motion affirmed that the overexposure of young people to screens represents a public health issue, and that the Digital Action Plan in education and higher education, expired in 2023, is insufficient.
Consequently, she asked the government to table a new improved action plan “to better regulate the exposure of young people to screens before the end of the current period of parliamentary work”.
Ontario is suing, Quebec should do the same, according to PSPP.
“Learning crisis”
Continuing this momentum, Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon encouraged the Quebec government on Thursday to imitate the four Ontario school boards which are suing the parent companies of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok.
The lawsuits claim the platforms were negligently designed for compulsive use and have changed the way children think, behave and learn, leaving teachers and schools to deal with the consequences.
They add that students are experiencing an attention, learning and mental health crisis due to the prolific and compulsive use of social media.
“The impact of compulsive social media use among students is placing considerable pressure on the limited resources of all four school boards,” the school boards said in a news release Thursday.
They are seeking damages of more than $4 billion for disruption to student learning and the education system.
The allegations contained in the lawsuits filed in the Ontario Superior Court have not been proven. Tonya Johnson, a spokesperson for Snap, told The Canadian Press that Snapchat helps its users stay in touch with their friends.
“This morning, Ontario school boards are suing Meta, Snapchat and TikTok for exactly the reasons that I named yesterday in the House,” declared Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon at a press briefing at the National Assembly.
According to him, the Quebec government should follow in the footsteps of Ontario school boards.
“We should go there,” he said. It reminds me strangely of the first lawsuits against tobacco companies, when we woke up to the fact that it was habituation through nicotine that led to people’s deaths.
“Here, we have a very, very addictive product, which targets young people who we should protect, […] and which leads to very serious mental health problems, physical health problems, anxiety problems and democracy problems in our society. So yes, we should consider continuing. »