2023-04-18 14:38:48
On average, a 2-year-old French boy spends nearly 56 minutes in front of the screens. Here is one of the conclusions of a national study conducted under the aegis of INED (National Institute for Demographic Studies) and Inserm (National Institute of Health and Medical Research) and published on April 12 last. This study follows over 20 years nearly 18,000 children born in 2011. The result is rather worrying knowing that the World Health Organization (WHO), recommends a total absence of screen before 2 years, then a limit of one hour per day up to 5 years. The risk is to disturb the sleep of the little ones as well as their cognitive development.
Restrict access to screens
These dangers lead some of our readers to pay close attention to the presence of their children in front of screens, whether TV, tablet or telephone. “Here, no screen since birth, explains Marie about her two children aged 3 and 5. Thus, no prohibition, nor frustration since they do not know any. “It is through school that they discover the screens thanks to “cinema outings for toddlers”. Even, vision for Florian who refuses screens for his 1 and a half and 3 year old children. He prefers to value the presence of parents “to play, read” and thus develop the imagination of the little ones.
Several of our readers set up a system to restrict access to screens. This is the case for Fanny, who confines access to “Netflix, Switch, computer, tablet” to Friday evenings and weekends. Elodie tells us that she banned screens for her children up to 4 years old before allowing TV “one hour a week, under parental supervision”. Séverine has also set up a fairly clear timetable for her two daughters Camille and Margot: “For Camille, I limited screen time to one hour per week for children up to 3 years old. From 4 to 10 years old: no tablet or phone. Only the right to watch cartoons. Since he was 11 years old (entrance to college) the telephone is limited to 1h30. Margot, she watched cartoons with her big sister. She got a tablet when she was 7, limited to 45 minutes. If she wants more, she should read chapters from a pink library book or do a real 50-word dictation! »
Entertain and accompany
In order to limit the temptation or to accompany their children, other readers favor activities such as ” [écouter] music, [réaliser] manual activities (drawing, stickers), playing outside, etc. says Nat. Martine avoids turning on “the TV in front of [les] children” and is limited to the evening “when they are in bed”. She also adds that there are “no video games at home, nor on our laptops”.
Frédéric has chosen to accompany his 9-year-old daughter when she uses her computer to “seek answers to her questions (for example the last time I spoke to her about gravity and we looked for explanatory videos on it). He also created a “cooking recipe website” for her to post the recipes she likes to make.
A “positive and active” way of understanding new technologies according to this dad. He also thinks that this is the best way to teach children to use technology “in an intelligent way so that they see it as an enriching tool and not just an entertainment platform with the risk of addiction. what it can lead to…”
Limits not always easy to keep
Moreover, our readers note an improvement in their relations with their children thanks to these restrictions. Fanny testifies that “since the rules were laid down, we no longer have whims and they no longer bother us to have them all week… What happiness! At Audrey’s, “the rule is known to [son] 6 year old son; on our side we are sticking to it and it is going well. » Sylvain’s children are subject to the use of parental controls on the tablet and game consoles […] Children manage their screen time throughout the day. So, he says, since this time limit was put in place on devices, “the topic has become much less confrontational. »
Only a reader’s testimony made us trace the difficulty of setting rules on the time spent by children in front of a screen. For Sébastien, “from the moment the children have a telephone, it’s unmanageable”.
Moreover, as Fanny points out, there is a perverse effect for parents: “I admit, we are blackmailing: if your room is tidy, you will have the right to a few screens”, confesses this mother. Finally, note that the study published on April 12 highlights disparities in the management of time spent in front of screens between families. These disparities exist according to the region of residence and the level of education of the parents, especially the mother. Children whose mother has a “college” level spend between 45 minutes (at 2 years) and 1h15 (at 5.5 years) more each day in front of a screen than those whose mother has a higher or equal level of education to tray + 5.
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