Screens have the virtue of transforming our dirty kids into model babies and offering a moment of respite to parents on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Especially on the train where you are quickly overwhelmed by the impatience and shrill cries of a child. Apart from soothing the ears of adults, succumbing to the temptation to calm a child with cartoons does not have many advantages. Unless the prospect of seeing the birth of a generation of “digital morons” appeals to us. This is what the latest statistics in France raise fears about. According to a study published by the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) in April 2023children’s screen time is on average 56 minutes at 3 and a half years old, compared to 1h34 at 5 and a half years old.
For fear of coming across as the bad student, Emmanuel Macron is now taking the subject of screens head-on. During a press conference this Tuesday evening, the Head of State announced his intention to regulate the use of screens for “our children”, on the basis of recommendations from experts he brought together during the week. last. They will have to submit their report in March. “Bans” and restrictions are not ruled out. What are the real dangers of screens for children? We take stock.
Are screens really bad for children’s health?
In 2017, Chamath Palihapitiya, the former head of Facebook, banned his children from using “this shit” [en parlant du réseau social de Meta]. The deleterious aspect of screens is no longer (really) a debate. Taiwan now distributes fines to parents who do not control the use of screens.
“The most firmly proven risks are linked to language, to concentration, to the sense of the ability to focus mental resources on a task,” says Michel Desmurget, doctor in neuroscience and research director at Inserm and author of Make them read! To put an end to the digital moron (Threshold, 2023). We have well-established effects on mental health: depression, anxiety, aggression. Being exposed to images of smoking or alcohol use has a significant effect on an adolescent’s risk of converting to smoking.” Physical health also takes a hit: sedentary lifestyle, obesity, sleep. “At the end of the chain, academic results depend on social and intellectual skills, sleep, and the ability to be functional,” warns the neuroscientist.
Are there some screens less harmful than others?
Tablets, telephones, televisions and computers are part of our daily lives, but also that of children. As he grows up, he will discover a new use at each stage of his life. First YouTube, Netflix and cartoons, then video games during elementary school, and finally social networks during adolescence. “There is a body of effects common to these activities. They are harmful because they saturate the brain with sensory information, but also because they have negative impacts on other activities that are extremely structuring for the brain,” insists neuroscientist Doctor Michel Desmurget.
However, not all screens are equal. “We must clearly distinguish the smartphone from the telephone,” remarks psychiatrist Serge Tisseron and author of 3-6-9-12 Tame screens and grow, published by Eres. “The smartphone is a tool that not only provides access to a very large number of platforms. But it is also a tool that makes the child available to new opportunities. When you give your 10-year-old a smartphone, for example, you don’t know what he will have access to when he is 12.”
In the psychiatrist’s viewfinder, the arrival of the TikTok application and its powerful algorithm have made young people’s dependence on screens even more problematic. “Social networks have diversified and the algorithms operate in a much more restrictive manner on all users, not just children,” underlines Serge Tisseron.
At what age can you put a screen in the hands of a child?
“No screen before three years”, insists THAT’S IT since 2008. In truth, WHO recommends as little screen time as possible before the age of 5. We know that overexposure to screens compromises all acquisitions. “The youngest are unable to pick up an object with their fingers because they are not used to it, they have difficulty interacting, recognizing emotions,” emphasizes Serge Tisseron.
Language and the acquisition of facial recognition are among the skills that the child must acquire between 0 and 3 or 4 years old. “If he does not learn them at the right time, it will be more complicated for him to acquire them later,” underlines the psychiatrist. There is nothing very scientific about the three-year limit. “Children’s memory and ability to ask for products come into play around three years of age. So, a child’s ability to be interesting for the advertiser emerges around two or three years old, quips Michel Desmurget. The three-year threshold is an economic threshold. The scientific literature shows no gap at three years. It’s as harmful at four years as it is at two.”
And if we support the child in screen consumption, does it work?
“Have you ever watched a movie with someone narrating the movie to you? And our children would be able to absorb both? », retorts Michel Desmurget, for whom the idea of accompanying the child in front of his screen is “heresy” at the cerebral level. “Between 80 and 90% of time shared in front of a screen is silent time.” Time spent on screens – even accompanied – exposes the child to fewer words. “Language input is maximum for shared reading, around 900 words for twenty minutes.” In front of a screen, we drop to 300, or three times less.
For his part, Serge Tisseron is less categorical. “We need to establish support very early, talk about what they saw and what they did with the screens.” This dialogue is half of the work. “The other half is to limit. We must not choose between speaking and limiting, we must do both,” insists the psychiatrist. This restriction can, for example, be accompanied by phones restricted by default. “For minors, these settings must be as protective as possible. That’s what Facebook did at the time.” However, it’s not all about that. “The big mistake would be to let parents believe that if we restrict telephones, if we prohibit children’s access to certain programs, everything will be fine. No, the programs that they will not have access to with the parents, they will have access to differently.”