Moldovan president, at international online safety conference, says each child must grow up healthy, free, safe in world where physical, digital realities intersect

Children’s online safety and mental health in the digital era are priority issues addressed by the authorities, with the main goal being to ensure that every child of Moldova can grow up healthy, free and safe in a world where physical and digital realities intersect. President Maia Sandu has made statements to this effect at an international conference dedicated to online safety and the impact of the digital environment on the mental health of children and adolescents, held in Chisinau  today. Romania’s First Lady, Mirabela Gradinaru, on a visit to Moldova, is also attending the event.

President Maia Sandu noted that the digital environment opens extraordinary opportunities for children and young people, while also influencing their attention, emotions, relationships and the way they see themselves.

“At the beginning of this year, I announced children’s safety and mental health in the digital era as a priority issue. I did so based on a simple observation: a large part of children’s lives now takes place online. This is where they learn, communicate, make friends, discover the world and express themselves. The digital environment opens extraordinary opportunities for them, but it also influences their attention, emotions, relationships and the way they see themselves,” the head of state said.

Maia Sandu emphasized that, in an increasing number of countries, excessive use of screens and social networks was being treated as a major public health crisis.

To assess the impact of this situation in Moldova and identify viable solutions, the authorities held discussions with students, teachers, parents and specialists in Chisinau, Cahul, Ungheni, Balti, and Nisporeni. The participants in the discussions examined children’s experiences, parents’ concerns and the challenges faced by teachers.

“These meetings have shown that we need measures that are both ambitious and realistic. We can no longer return to the old days, when parents’ concern was for their children to come home before dark, while teachers worried that students might copy their homework during breaks from more diligent classmates. Today, children can be at home or at school and, at the same time, be completely absorbed in the online world. And parents and teachers, no matter how hard they try, do not always know whom their children are communicating with, what content they are accessing or what situations they are going through,” the president said.

The head of state stressed that the authorities must identify solutions and create protection mechanisms, so that each child is safe online.

“We can already see, in the adult world, how powerful manipulation and disinformation can be in the cognitive warfare we are facing. If it is sometimes difficult for adults to distinguish truth from falsehood; we cannot expect a child to navigate safely on their own through a space meant to constantly capture their attention. The problem is not technology itself. The problem arises when the digital environment does not take the interests of children or adolescents into account. Bullying, harmful content and mechanisms that encourage compulsive use affect health and long-term development. That is why we, as adults, have a duty to create protection mechanisms,” Maia Sandu said.

Discussions about online safety are even more relevant at the beginning of the school year, given that “today’s school faces a whole spectrum of major transformations.”

“Artificial intelligence and digitalization are changing the way new generations acquire knowledge. We must prepare children for occupations that will undergo profound changes and for professions that do not even exist today. We cannot do this by isolating them from technology. We must teach them to use it intelligently, in a balanced and responsible way, to think critically and to use new tools without becoming captive to them,” the head of state said.

The Moldovan president noted that, in this context, a joint effort was needed on behalf of families, schools, the healthcare system, authorities, civil society, and the companies that manage digital platforms.

“We need practical support for parents and teachers, clear procedures for preventing and reporting incidents, as well as rapid, confidential access to help for children in difficulty. At the same time, protection must be integrated into the way platforms operate. Last but not least, we must listen to the voices of children and adolescents, in order to understand their needs, fears, and aspirations,” Maia Sandu emphasized.

The conference, Online Safety and the Digital Determinants of the Mental Health and Emotional Well-Being of Children and Adolescents, is organized by the Health Ministry and the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe, under the auspices of Moldova’s Presidency and with co-financing from the European Union. Mirabela Gradinaru and Maia Sandu attended the opening of the event and a high-level panel dedicated to digital environments and the mental health of young people.