Brazil has registered an unprecedented decline in the proportion of children aged up to 12 who own a mobile phone, a reversal that coincides with a federal law restricting smartphone use in schools now implemented in 92 per cent of basic-education units. School directors report sharp improvements in attention, engagement and social interaction, while 88 per cent link the ban to a reduction in cyberbullying incidents. The domestic pullback, driven by parental concerns over physical safety and digital harms, marks a break with years of accelerating early digitalisation.

A separate systematic review published in the Journal of Sport and Health Science, synthesising 59 randomised clinical trials with more than 9,000 participants, found that regular physical activity raised the probability of quitting smoking by 15 per cent and reduced daily cigarette consumption by an average of two. Even a single exercise session dampened cravings for roughly 30 minutes. The authors stress that exercise should complement, not replace, established cessation therapies.

The Brazilian data arrive as several governments tighten the relationship between minors and screens. Britain’s former prime minister announced a ban on social-media access for under-16s, following a similar Australian prohibition. In Italy, however, scholars have pushed back, arguing that the youth mental-health crisis is driven by deteriorating material conditions rather than by smartphones and social platforms. Indonesian data illustrate the stakes: the national internet association reports that 93 per cent of adolescents use social media daily, averaging 5.8 hours, while health ministry figures show 20 per cent of the population experiences emotional mental disorders.

A new systematic observation from four British universities now recommends that children under two receive no regular, intentional screen time at all, warning that early exposure can weaken parent-child bonding, constrain language development and raise the risk of overstimulation. The researchers call for a revision of guidance that currently permits shared screen use for the youngest children. The findings, viewed alongside the Brazilian school-phone law’s early results, are likely to intensify pressure on regulators to define age-appropriate digital boundaries, even as the debate over root causes of adolescent distress remains unsettled.