We are experiencing yet another turning point. The 21st-century school is increasingly becoming the place where citizens who will inhabit a complex, fast-paced, and nuanced digital world are shaped. In this context, two topics emerge as urgent educational priorities that cannot be postponed: neuroethics and digital citizenship.

After all, how can we protect the emotional and cognitive well-being of children and adolescents who are growing up amid constant digital stimuli, personalized algorithms, and interactions that are increasingly mediated by screens? How can we ensure that the use of technology serves as a tool for development rather than a trigger for addiction, anxiety, or impulsivity?

Neuroscience has already taught us that the human brain continues to develop until around age 25, and precisely for this reason, it is highly malleable—for better or for worse. Today, we know that constant notifications, intermittent rewards, and intense visual stimuli directly impact the brain regions responsible for attention, self-regulation, and decision-making.

This is where neuroethics comes in— a new frontier of knowledge that brings together law, science, health, and technology to explore the limits of what is acceptable when it comes to influencing human thoughts, emotions, and decisions. And along with it emerges the discussion of neurorights—a set of safeguards aimed at protecting the mind in the face of advances in digital and neurotechnological technologies.

Where did neuro-rights come from?

The concept gained prominence starting in 2017, with the NeuroRights Initiative at Columbia University in the United States.

The goal? To ensure that, in the face of growing technological capabilities to influence our thoughts and behaviors, the mind remains a protected, inviolable, and free space.

Chile was a pioneer: in 2021, it became the first country in the world to recognize neuro-rights in its Constitution, requiring informed consent, algorithmic transparency, and special protection for children and adolescents. Spain is also debating the issue in parliament, with a focus on the protection of neural data and limits on behavioral manipulation through technology.

See also:

• Artificial Intelligence and Schools: Should We Ban It, or Learn to Use It to Enjoy and Teach the Right Way?
• Law 15,100/25: The new law governing cell phone use in schools

In Brazil, although the debate is still in its early stages, this is a strategic opportunity. We already have important legal frameworks such as the Statute of the Child and Adolescent (ECA) and the General Data Protection Law (LGPD), which ensure emotional well-being and establish specific safeguards for the processing of minors’ data. Internationally, UN General Comment No. 25 and the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of AI underscore the urgency of protecting children in the digital environment.

And what about schools? How do they fit into this discussion?

The answer does not lie in creating a new academic discipline, but in integrating the themes of neuroethics and digital citizenship across all educational settings within the school. Rather than waiting for formal regulations, several institutions are already innovating responsibly, creating environments where emotional well-being and critical thinking are priorities.

Practical examples include digital citizenship agreements with students and families, group “screen-free” sessions, interdisciplinary discussions about algorithms and content recommendations, and group discussions with questions such as: “How do you feel when you spend a lot of time on social media?” or “Do you notice when you’re being influenced by something online?”

At Bett Brasil, considered the largest event on Innovation and Technology in Education in Latin America, these discussions are taking center stage, and it is there that educators, administrators, researchers, and decision-makers come together to discuss how to ensure that a “digital childhood” is also a protected childhood—including with regard to freedom of thought and emotional well-being.

Protecting the developing mind is neither censorship nor a step backward, but a guarantee of genuine freedom. And freedom, in the digital world, requires preparation, and education plays a crucial role in this process: shaping people who are capable of thinking for themselves, resisting invisible manipulation, and using technology as a tool—not as a shackle.

Digital citizenship and neuroethics must go hand in hand. The former teaches us our rights and responsibilities in the virtual world, and the latter reminds us that not everything that is possible is acceptable.

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