“Maturing” opened the EU eyes? Countries join forces to protect children from cyber threats

Almost half of the teenagers came into contact with online violence. Every fourth was challenged on the web, and every fifth he experienced ridicule – according to the NASK report “Teenagers 3.0”. The scale of cyberbullying is increasing, which, combined with social media addiction and growing image pressure, negatively affects the mental health of the young generation.

The comments after the premiere of the series “Maturation”, which appeared at Netfliks.

A thirteen -year -old is accused of murdering a classmate. His family, therapist and the detective leading, ask themselves about what really happened. A lot of teenagers' relationships with their family, also hit social media and technologies.

– The young generation directly and often meets the persecution on the web. He spends excessive time in front of the screen. For example, over 22 percent He spends young people on average 4 hours. daily in front of the screen. We are talking about school -age children who devote 4 hours. Daily for the use of screen devices, playing online or using the Internet – he emphasized during a conference summarizing the meeting of Olivér Várhelyi, the EU Commissioner for Health and Welfare of Animal.

The results of research on the European Health Organization office under the Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) project show that every sixth teenager in the world fell victim to cyberbullying. In Poland, it is much worse in this respect – Even one in five children could experience violence on the web. In each age group, Polish youth are in the top five countries and regions with the highest percentage of people experiencing cyberbullying. While general trends in peer violence remain stable since 2018, the phenomenon of cyberbullying is gaining strength.

– On the one hand, digital tools are very important, we need it, i.e. we must teach the young generation of the digital world. At the same time, we are actually sure, because it results from research that the digital world can be a threat, can be dangerous, we are talking about hate speech, fake news, cybercriminality – emphasizes Izabela Leszczyna, the Minister of Health.

Verbal aggression, insults on chats, impersonating someone's identity, publishing compromising materials or sexual violence – these are only part of the threats that young people face in the virtual world. Statistics are growing from year to year. NASK reports that almost half of the teenagers (48.8 percent) admits that they have come across online violence. Every fourth young person (26.8 percent) was called on the web, and every fifth (19.5 percent) experienced ridicule. Over two -thirds of young people (68.4 percent) claim that hate speech is a problem on the Internet.

“The level of cyberagression targeted at young people over the past 10 years has doubled, so we have to do a lot more to remedy it,” notes Olivér Várhelyi.

The most common effects of too much exposure to technologies include Increase in stress levels, anxiety and depression, which affects the mental condition of young people. Due to the growing scale of the problem, the Polish Presidency in the EU Council made the mental health of children and young people one of the priorities. On March 25, 2025, during the informal meeting of the EPSCO Health Council, EU health ministers discussed in Warsaw about how to protect the mental health of children and youth in the era of technology and social media. They assessed that in the face of the threats that young people meet on the Internet, exchange of experiences and cooperation between Member States are necessary, for example in the matter of limiting the use of cell phones in schools.

– As adults, and above all, politicians, we must be responsible and provide children, young people with a safe digital environment – argues the Minister of Health. – I am glad that all ministers, including the European Commission, with one voice we decided that we need community activities at the European Union level, because the Internet knows no bounds.

As emphasized in the announcements of the meeting, health policies must respond to new challenges and protect young people from the harmful effects of excessive use of technology. It is also important to promote healthy behavioral patterns in the digital world so that young people can safely use the opportunities offered by the Internet. The March meeting of health ministers was part of a broader discussion on the mental condition of young people aimed at finding the best solutions for this urgent problem. The Polish presidency began efforts on the development of a common European strategy for better protection of mental health of children and youth. An important point of these activities will be the conclusions of the Council, which the Polish presidency plans to accept in June during the EPSCO Health Formal Council.

– We agree on the need to protect the young generation in this area and that we must act more preventive. I hope that the Danish presidency will take over the Polish initiative because we have to do more. It is not enough to allocate funds for programs. We must be in constant contact with stakeholders, we need help from platform operators in the fight against this phenomenon. Otherwise, the mental health of the whole generation may suffer – argues the EU Health Commissioner.

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