It is the fruit of three months of work. An expert report, which will be submitted this Tuesday to the President of the Republic, recommends prohibiting the use of screens for children under the age of three and mobile phones for those under 11, by strictly limiting access to subsequent years for adolescents. Here’s what you need to remember.
· Very clear consensus on the negative effects of screens
In this report, revealed Monday evening by several regional dailies, the commission of experts specially commissioned by the executive warns of “the reality of the hyper connection suffered by children” and “the consequences for their health, their development, their future ”, but also for the future “of our society, our civilization”.
The commission explains that it was “rushed” by “the strategies for capturing children’s attention”. “A very clear consensus has emerged on the negative effects, direct and indirect, of screens, particularly on sleep, a sedentary lifestyle – which promotes obesity – or even myopia,” she writes in this report, cited by “La Voix du Nord”.
· Social networks singled out
Experts blame social networks, a “risk factor” for depression or anxiety, in cases of “pre-existing vulnerability”. Furthermore, “the level of exposure of children” to pornographic and violent content “appears alarming”, they denounce.
They consider that “screens are not the cause of neurodevelopmental disorders” but call for “vigilance” to “avoid the amplification of symptoms”.
· No screens before three years
To “regain control”, they call for preventing all use of screens by children under three years old, then allowing, between three and six years old, “strongly limited” access, “with content of educational quality and accompanied by an adult.”
We must “limit as much as possible” the use of mobile phones and televisions in maternity wards, further proposes the commission, which would like to see computers and televisions banned in nurseries and nursery classes. She calls for “reinforced actions” with childminders.
· Smartphones without social networks up to 15 years old
The commission also recommends only authorizing mobile phones from the age of 11, via a telephone without internet up to 13 years of age. From the age of 13, it suggests giving a smartphone without access to social networks, then opening this access from the age of 15, only on “ethical” networks.
The group of experts calls for combating “predatory services” from economic players, such as “infinite scrolling” or “automatic video launch”, and for allowing users to better configure application functionalities and control. parental.
Screens: “We must distinguish the use of social networks from educational digital technology. For me, a supported digital tool, with the teacher nearby, is not something that should be rejected,” believes @NBelloubet. #le710inter pic.twitter.com/8BtM57ebAx
— France Inter (@franceinter) April 30, 2024
According to an Ipsos survey for the National Book Center, young people aged 7 to 19 spend on average more than three hours a day on screens. During a speech on Europe on Thursday at the Sorbonne, Emmanuel Macron pleaded for “parental control” of access to social networks in European countries for adolescents under 15 years old. On France Inter, Nicole Belloubet asked to “avoid the circulation of cell phones in college at all costs”. She wants “cell phones to be left at the entrance and not circulated in colleges”.
· Put an end to the capture economy
“We were shocked by what we saw: strategies for capturing children’s attention. Cognitive biases are used to lock children on their screens, control them, re-engage them, monetize them,” said Amine Benyamina, neurologist and co-chair of the expert committee in an interview with “Ouest-France”.
“It’s a capture economy. Parents are almost out of the picture, facing a market that has imposed itself on society,” he adds. “What shocked us is that professionals do not have the protection of children as a priority. Behind the facade speeches, it’s business on all levels,” denounced Servane Mouton, neurologist and also co-president.
With AFP