The CIS brings together experts to analyze the challenges of digital citizenship
Spanish society is undergoing a transformation towards an increasingly digital environment, which is modifying both daily habits and social, educational, and family structures. In this context, the Center for Sociological Research (CIS), through the FOROCIS initiative, has convened a committee of renowned experts in education, technology, law, and social analysis to address, from a multidisciplinary perspective, the main challenges associated with digital citizenship. The meeting brought together specialists with extensive experience in the academic, institutional, and professional fields, allowing for the development of a rigorous and complementary perspective on this complex phenomenon. Throughout the session, the experts agreed that the current debate is fragmented and hampered by the mixing of concepts, contributing key insights from their respective areas of expertise to organize the analysis and move toward a more comprehensive understanding that integrates educational, social, and technological dimensions. Organizing the debate: what questions are being asked and who is asking them María Zabala, author of Being Parents in the Digital Age and coordinator of Education and Digital Citizenship at FAD Youth, focused her intervention on the need to clarify the starting point of the debate. “It’s not the same to ask about the digital world and minors as it is to ask about the digital world in general and citizens,” he explained, stressing that the lack of precision conditions both the answers and their interpretation. In his speech, he highlighted that the current debate mixes different issues—mobile phone use in the classroom, educational digitization, access to social networks, or content consumption—making it difficult to identify the real problem: “We are confusing students' personal mobile phones during school hours with technology in the classroom, with the use of digital technology in the teaching process…”. Zabala also emphasized the gap between perception and knowledge: “There’s what you think you know and what you actually know.” From there, she introduced a structural reflection that permeated much of the meeting: the role of adults. According to her, there is a widespread difficulty in understanding how the digital environment works, leading to the delegation of responsibilities to others. This situation coexists with a difficult-to-sustain social demand: “Adults want secure internet, they want fast internet, they want free internet, they want internet that respects their privacy… but that doesn’t charge them.” A complex environment that demands avoiding oversimplification Julio Albalad, director of the National Institute of Educational Technologies and Teacher Training (INTEF), of the Ministry of Education, elaborated on the idea of complexity, noting that the debate cannot be approached from simplistic positions. “Children’s social lives are currently in the digital world; it’s not that it’s not real, it’s that it is their reality,” she stated, emphasizing that separating the digital from the physical is artificial. From this perspective, she argued that any approach must consider the nuances: “This is full of gray areas and is very complex.” Albalad also warned of the indirect consequences of certain measures: “We live in a society where kids can access the internet through a VPN, bypassing any kind of filter; you're pushing them into a dark world.” This reflection connects with a broader perspective on the context in which this phenomenon occurs: “Society has much more complex problems: loneliness, changes in families, socioeconomic changes, and the level of poverty among minors. The studies we have show a correlation between healthy parental relationships with technology and healthy relationships between minors and technology, but there could also be a correlation with socioeconomic status and its stability.” Consistent with this approach, the interventions highlighted the existence of a digital socioeconomic divide that separates families and affects multiple situations, while also pointing to increasing social pressure to be in the digital environment, which is now aspirational. In this context, the group agreed on the need to deepen our understanding of social realities: to know what concerns citizens, how much they actually know about these issues, and to what extent they are willing to change their behavior. They also emphasized the importance of analyzing the impact on emotional well-being so that public policies can be based on rigorous data. Technology and responsibility: a broader perspective Borja Adsuara, a lawyer, consultant and university professor, former director of Red.es, who has participated in the drafting of all Digital Law laws since 1992, provided a reflection focused on the role that technology occupies in the collective imagination. Throughout his speech, he argued that there is a tendency to oversimplify complex problems by attributing them to technology: “Technology has always been the scapegoat.” In his opinion, this approach reduces analytical capacity and shifts attention away from structural factors. In response, he advocated for a more balanced view, one that also acknowledges the benefits: “Artificial intelligence is saving lives every day, but we only see news about the dark side. We also need responsible communication. And in education, what do we want? To raise children in a bubble or to prepare them for the world they will inherit?” This reflection connects with his argument about responsibility, especially within the family: “Are you asking the State to prohibit the use of the mobile phone that you yourself gave to your child? (…) Welcome to responsible parenting.” Adsuara pointed out that the prohibition of access for minors under 14 years of age has existed in Spain since 2007, within the regulations implementing the 1999 Organic Law on Data Protection. However, the challenge lies in verifying age without jeopardizing the privacy of all users. “We have the General Law on Audiovisual Communication, the Digital Services Regulations, and the Comprehensive Law on the Protection of Children against Violence. But there are two non-technological laws: the Civil Code and the Penal Code. The Civil Code imposes the obligation on parents to care for their children under 18 and establishes their subsidiary civil liability. And in the Penal Code, there is a crime that has not yet been applied, but I am waiting to see if someone applies it in these environments: child abandonment.” Digital education: use, context and educational models Laura Cuesta Cano, professor of Cybercommunication and Digital Strategy at Camilo José Cela University, and author of the books "Connected" and "Growing up with screens", focused her speech on the need to better understand what is being analyzed when talking about digitization. “The biggest mistake is continuing to use the term ‘screens’ for everything,” she noted, pointing to a conceptual confusion that, in her opinion, has shaped both the public debate and social perception. This lack of precision makes it impossible to differentiate between technologies, uses, and contexts, especially between what happens in the educational environment and what happens in the family setting. In this sense, he defended the need to incorporate a more comprehensive view, one that is not limited to measuring the presence of technology, but that analyzes how it is used and with what results: “We have highly digitized centers that, however, pedagogically they are not achieving strategies that are really working, and others with few digital resources whose teachers are achieving a high level of student learning.” This diversity of situations highlights, she explained, that the key lies not in the quantity of technology, but in its use and the educational models that accompany it. Therefore, she emphasized the importance of introducing qualitative analyses that allow us to understand what is actually being done in classrooms. At the same time, Cuesta extended this reflection to the family sphere, where significant differences are also observed: “We have families that lack skills, who, due to work-life balance, do not have time and are delegating to technology, and others that are more aware and are even overprotecting in the physical environment.” From this dual perspective —educational and social—, he advocated a change of approach: “We must not protect minors from the digital environment, but from the risks that exist in that environment.” The social dimension: inequality, support, and digital citizenship Nacho Guadix, head of Education and Digital Children's Rights at UNICEF Spain, developed an intervention focused on the social dimension of the digital phenomenon, incorporating a broad and structural vision. Guadix elaborated on the issue of poverty and inequality, noting that the digital environment affects the entire population regardless of their context, while acknowledging that there are still 2.6 billion people worldwide who are not connected. From this perspective, she argued that the digital environment should be understood as an extension of citizenship, in which existing social dynamics are reproduced—and in many cases amplified. “The digital environment is a space for extending citizenship,” he stated, emphasizing that problems such as violence, discrimination, or inequality do not originate in the digital realm, but can intensify there. One of the key points of her presentation was the redefinition of the digital divide: “The access gap is very small, but the support gap is enormous.” She explained that many children have similar devices, but lack the same family support, whether due to a lack of time, resources, or skills. In this context, she pointed out that factors such as job insecurity and work-life balance directly influence technology use: in many cases, the device becomes an accessible solution in the absence of alternatives. Guadix also provided relevant data on cyberbullying: “School bullying affects around 25% of cases, while cyberbullying affects around 8%. However, the emotional impact of cyberbullying is two to three times greater than physical bullying because it has no time limits or geographical boundaries.” This characteristic of the digital environment—its continuity and lack of limits—adds complexity to intervention and reinforces the need to understand its specific dynamics. She also highlighted the social pressure associated with technology use, especially among young people, for whom participating in the digital environment is part of their social integration. This reality makes it difficult to propose solutions based solely on restricting access. Finally, she emphasized the importance of data and continuous monitoring: “These issues change a great deal, so it is essential to measure and understand what is happening in order to take action.” Conclusions The meeting facilitated progress in identifying the main challenges associated with digital citizenship, focusing on the need to improve the existing understanding of technology use and its implications. In this regard, the experts agreed on the importance of delving deeper into how society perceives these phenomena, its level of comprehension, and the extent to which it is willing to modify habits and assume responsibilities. The crucial role of adult guidance and the influence of social context on technology use were also highlighted, as well as the importance of incorporating metrics and continuous monitoring to anticipate changes and adapt responses. Ultimately, the shared reflection suggests that the real challenge lies not only in technology itself, but in how society chooses to coexist with it and manage its impact on daily life.
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