Church Warns of Digital Overexposure Risks for Minors Ahead of World Cup

As the 2026 FIFA World Cup approaches, the Catholic Church is sounding an alarm about the risks of excessive digital exposure for children and adolescents. In its editorial "Desde la Fe," the Church urged parents to actively engage with, observe, listen to, and accompany their young ones to reinforce family connections and establish secure environments.

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the passion for futbol can become an extraordinary opportunity to live together as a family, share emotions and build memories, but it can also become a period in which, between screens, altered schedules, chats, video games, bets disguised as entertainment and an increasingly aggressive digital overexposure, we stop looking at our children and adolescents.

The Church highlighted that while the passion for football can be a chance for family bonding, it can also lead to increased screen time, altered schedules, excessive gaming, disguised betting, and aggressive digital overexposure. This can result in parents overlooking the needs of their children. It warned that fractured family ties often begin with prolonged silences, isolation, irritability, insomnia, and an intense dependency on mobile phones, manifesting as anxiety, constant anger, or emotional detachment.

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the fracture of family ties begins with prolonged silences, isolation, irritability, insomnia, excessive need for privacy or an increasingly intense dependence on the cell phone and other times appear in the form of anxiety, constant anger or emotional disconnection.

To counter these risks, the Church referenced the recent "Week of Good Treatment for Children and Vulnerable Persons" organized by the Archdiocese of Mexico. This event offered specialists' insights and tools for strengthening family bonds and creating safe spaces. The Church stressed that good treatment goes beyond avoiding violence; it means fostering healthy, close, and emotionally present relationships.

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A child protected is not one who has a closed door or a secure password. It is one who knows they can speak, who feels heard, who finds adults attentive to their emotions and capable of detecting when something is not right.

"A protected child is not one with a closed door or a secure password. It is one who knows they can speak, who feels heard, who finds adults attentive to their emotions and capable of detecting when something is not right," the editorial stated. The Church cautioned against viewing children as automatically safe simply because they are at home, as many modern threats bypass physical barriers to reach devices directly. It concluded by emphasizing that safeguarding children requires genuine interest in what they see, hear, play, and feel, urging a return to shared family time and conversation.

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Probably one of the great risks of our time is thinking that because our children are inside the house, they are automatically safe. However, today many threats cross the door without asking permission and arrive directly to a room, to a telephone or to headphones.