At UNESCO Headquarters in Paris more than 330 students from 14 schools in the Île-de-France region and 9 classes connected online from Cameroon, Congo, Lebanon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Togo and Tunisia exchanged together on mental health in digital environment . Two members of UNESCO’s International Bioethics Committee, Professor Brigitte Khoury and Professor Ariel Lindner, led the discussions, drawing on the Committee’s recent report Ethical considerations for youth mental health in the digital environment.
Mental health and the digital world: an inseparable link
To open the discussion, Professor Brigitte Khoury, clinical psychologist at the American University of Beirut and Director of the Arab Regional Centre for Mental Health Research and Training, recalled a founding principle: mental health is not a domain separate from physical health, but its natural extension. It directly influences and shapes emotional regulation, the quality of social relationships, academic achievement and, in turn, physical health itself. In a world where social media, video games and online discussion spaces occupy a structural place in adolescents’ lives, this observation takes on a new dimension: the digital environment has become a world in its own right, within which a significant part of young people’s mental equilibrium is at stake.
Professor Ariel Lindner, Research Director at Inserm and Université Sorbonne Paris Cité, co-founder of the Learning Planet Institute and the LISA association, extended this reflection by highlighting the potential benefits of digital technology: learning, creativity and social connection. He nonetheless drew attention to a central tension: digital environments have been designed according to an essentially commercial logic, with architectural mechanisms intended to maximise time spent online rather than to protect the well-being of their users.
Rights, shared responsibility and students’ voices
Beyond the effects on well-being, the question of young people’s rights in digital spaces was at the heart of the discussion.
Ariel Lindner highlighted an oft-forgotten reality: young people are full rights-holders in the digital space. These rights include the right to mental health, to childhood, and also the right to make mistakes — in spaces that do not always allow for it.
He also drew attention to the current digital divide: two thirds of children worldwide lack access to digital technology, a gap that deepens inequalities among young people on a global scale.
When invited to identify their priority for action, the two experts offered two complementary responses: algorithmic transparency for Ariel Lindner, and strengthening dialogue between parents and children in digital spaces for Brigitte Khoury.
Three students from the École des Technologies, des Sciences et du Laboratoire (Paris, France) presented work carried out in class, drawing on data from the WHO and UNICEF. Their message was nuanced and engaged: digital technology is not to be banned, but to be built differently, together with all stakeholders. Simple actions, sleeping without a phone, disabling notifications, adjusting app settings, can make a real difference in daily life. The International Bioethics Committee’s report also emphasises the need to involve young people themselves in decisions that concern their digital environment.
Three students from the École des Technologies, des Sciences et du Laboratoire (Paris, France) presented work carried out in class, drawing on data from the WHO and UNICEF. Their message was nuanced and engaged: digital technology is not to be banned, but to be built differently, together with all stakeholders. Simple actions, sleeping without a phone, disabling notifications, adjusting app settings, can make a real difference in daily life. The International Bioethics Committee’s report also emphasises the need to involve young people themselves in decisions that concern their digital environment.
read more: https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/unesco-campus-tackles-mental-health-digital-age?hub=701
