Publish at October 15 2020 Updated July 01 2025
Around the world, it's the same story: we're spending more and more time in front of the screen, and not always in very useful, interesting or socially enriching ways. The problem can be summed up in one question: "Who's really in control?
The design of applications for mobile devices and consoles takes advantage of our slightest weaknesses and fosters dependency through well-targeted reinforcements. Fortunately, when we realize the extent of our loss of control, often from screen time measurement applications, we become more open to making a change.
This step may seem simple, but it's all the more essential because when we ask people how much time they estimate they spend on their phone, it's systematically underestimated. Add to this the tablet, TV and console, and the figure sometimes hurts the eyes.
iOS and Android now offer screen time measurement apps for their devices. That's a start.
This app suggests self-discipline as an approach. The best way to correct bad habits is not to fight them directly, but to adopt better ones instead.
For children, self-discipline isn't innate, especially when parents are already busy. Here are three apps, one for coaching and the others for external control, but without invading children's privacy.
From here on in, we enter the easy way: that of external control and Little Brother-style surveillance. The fact that antivirus companies offer this kind of service illustrates the spirit of these policed applications. Ethical issues do not arise.
They don't hesitate to monitor what young people write, where they go, what they watch, what they photograph, with whom they communicate, what they search for, etc. One assumes that when you've truly lost control, these applications give you the impression of retaining some of it and assuming parental responsibility. We could call these applications "teenage crisis fertilizer".
In the world of espionage, a fundamental principle governs the information obtained: you never make public information obtained through espionage, at the risk of compromising both the source and the relationships. To maintain a modicum of trust, you must at least inform the person you are monitoring.
Add to these applications those for managing DNS (domain addresses - Domain Name System) on VPNs (Virtual Private Network) and we begin to understand how states can control and monitor the Internet and everything that's done on it; if we're capable, they're probably just as capable and better.
Reference
Gestion des écrans: reprendre (enfin!) le contrôle - La Presse
https://www.lapresse.ca/vivre/famille/201801/29/01-5151802-gestion-des-ecrans-reprendre-enfin-le-controle.php
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