Penélope Cruz has opened up about her decision to not let her 10- and 12-year-old children have mobile phones. The Spanish actress and her husband Javier Bardem have a son, Leo, and a daughter, Luna. Speaking to Elle Magazine, Cruz commented that “it’s so easy to be manipulated, especially if you have a brain that is still forming.” Cruz went onto say: “It’s a cruel experiment on children, on teenagers.”
Cruz has been vocal in the past year about her stance on technology in relation to her children’s wellbeing. In an interview with CBS Sunday Morning, the actress revealed she is “very tough with technology.” She went onto say her kids can watch movies, but no phones until later on and no social media until at least 16: “I really see that as protecting mental health. But I seem to be part of a minority.”
Cruz also shared her concern over “the world … doing some kind of experiment” on teenagers who are exposed to too much technology. “It’s almost [as] if the world was doing some kind of experiment on them. ‘Oh, let’s see what happens if you expose a 12-year-old to that much technology.’
On a separate note, Cruz also revealed that there is a scene in her upcoming film “Ferrari” that she wanted to be cut. In the scene, Cruz’s character shoots a gun. Speaking to Vanity Fair, she said the COVID-19 pandemic made her reflect on her decision to keep the scene, but ultimately decided to keep it in the final cut: “I still don’t think that we need to put any more guns into the world.”
Cruz’s concerns over technology and children is a topic that aligns with other notable figures in recent years, including Bill Gates, who has spoken about managing his children’s access to screen time and imposing restrictions on technology at home
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