Application Designed to Aid Adolescents in Overcoming Digital Addiction
The "freii" app, a groundbreaking digital media usage prevention program, is set to launch on September 22. Developed by professionals from Villa Schöpflin in Lörrach, Germany, this innovative app is aimed at teenagers aged 11 to 15, their parents, and schools across the country.
The app, funded by the Schoepflin Foundation and the Beisheim Foundation, is free for users. It aims not to demonize digital media but to balance media use, screen time, and leisure time. According to Daniel Ott, deputy director of Villa Schoepflin, this is the primary goal of the "freii" app.
Each day, young people are given short tasks to complete, some individually and some with their parents. Four young guides, presented through videos, quizzes, and challenges, lead them through the program. Comedian and physician Eckart von Hirschhausen, who supports the project, has created short explanatory videos specifically for parents.
The app is targeted at schools, and the foundation plans to train specialists nationwide in a two-day training course to accompany the program's implementation in schools. The beta version of the app is fully usable, but programmers can still fine-tune it if there are any issues.
The study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reveals that German teenagers spend an average of 48 hours a week on TikTok, computer games, and other digital applications, which is more than their international peers. With this in mind, the developers of the "freii" app claim that it will help young people and their parents recognize risk factors such as a lack of free time structure and protect them from excessive phone usage.
The "freii" app offers solutions like setting clear rules and fostering open communication within the family. It will be publicly available from September 22. The program was launched at a Berlin school on Wednesday. The app project "freii" was developed by professionals from Villa Schöpflin in Lörrach, a center for addiction prevention. The app's development was also scientifically accompanied, and its effect was evaluated in a study funded by the Federal Ministry of Health.
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