During LUDOVIA#BE, held in Spa, Wallonia, from October 22 to 24, 2024, we discovered several “hidden gems.” Over the coming weeks, we’ll share a selection of articles and short videos that we hope will serve as a source of inspiration for your ongoing and future projects.
Interview🎙️Today’s inspiration comes from Arnaud Zarbo, psychologist, psychotherapist, trainer, and supervisor at the Nadja Center (ASBL) in Liège, where he works in the field of addictions (with or without substances).
“I think every generation has varying levels of ease with certain technologies. When we see younger generations using technologies we don’t fully understand, it creates concerns,” says Arnaud Zarbo as he begins to explain his perspective.
According to him, these concerns are valid, and his job is to acknowledge and address them.
“My job isn’t to reassure or alarm but to understand the sources of distress and identify possible interventions,” he adds.
However, he believes we don’t need an expert on a daily basis to manage our children’s screen time.
Fear of Technology or Fear of Your Teenager?
Arnaud Zarbo identifies several factors contributing to the discomfort. Technology evolves rapidly, with new content and jargon emerging daily, which can make people feel “out of touch.” “In our society, we are particularly concerned about our children’s well-being, and technology tends to amplify modern parenting anxieties,” he explains.
Parents often feel torn between letting their teenagers go out to spend time with friends—while worrying about their influences—and keeping them home, where they may lack social interactions but are glued to their screens.
“The less comfortable we are with a technology, the less competent we feel to intervene.”
But we aren’t expected to be IT experts; rather, we should aim to be ethical experts.
“My work is to demystify the omnipotence of media objects,” he adds.
The focus should instead be on engaging in meaningful dialogue, centering on what matters to the teenager, to discuss and manage the situation together.
“What makes the media the only way I can feel good, and why can’t I find that well-being elsewhere?” This is the question Arnaud Zarbo encourages individuals to reflect on.
His approach involves bringing media usage into focus with flexibility and openness.
Parenting Today Requires Many Skills!
“Today’s adolescents are not a different species; they’re simply living in different contexts,” he explains.
With social media, “the outside world increasingly intrudes into our homes.” For Zarbo, this highlights the importance of parents supporting media literacy—not because they are media experts but because they are experts on their children.
Parents need to be curious and “skeptical,” he advises.
“There’s a paradox in modern society: to be a well-rounded citizen, one must master technological tools and use them appropriately. Any deviation is seen as a kind of pathology… so how can parents determine what constitutes proper usage?”
The pressure on parents to navigate digital parenting is growing.
For instance, screen rules such as “3-6-9-12,” advocated by Serge Tisseron, are intended to guide and support parents. Yet, in practice, they often become rigid commandments, “absolute principles that don’t make sense and end up making everyone feel guilty,” Zarbo notes.
He advocates for a more flexible approach.
What Advice Can We Give Parents Today?
First, acknowledge their competence and help boost their confidence.
“When a parent leaves a session with me, I want them to feel more capable, not as if they’ve received divine guidance from a psychologist-expert telling them what to do,” he concludes.
More information: Learn about the center where Arnaud works at www.nadja-asbl.be.
Find all the inspiring articles from LUDOVIA#BE here: www.ludomag.com/tag/ludoviabe-2024.
