We are signatories of an open letter published in Le Monde on 18 February 2018 on the use of screens by young children

For some time now, videos on YouTube, articles in the media, and television and radio programmes have been multiplying, putting forward an addiction to digital tools among toddlers, and a supposed link between excessive screen use among the youngest children and the onset of autism spectrum disorders.

17 associations of professionals in care and prevention, and of researchers specialising in the fields of early childhood, childhood, autism and addiction, are sounding the alarm in an open letter to Le Monde (18-19 February 2018). This sensational information, widely relayed by some media outlets, is not only scientifically unfounded, but also sustains a climate of moral panic that hinders a reasonable understanding of the problems and prevents public opinion from being effectively made aware of the risks linked to excessive screen use.

It is essential to promote a thoughtful and reasonable use of screens but it is mistaken and counter-productive to blame screens for every ill.

Indeed:

• No study to date makes it possible to establish a link between screen consumption and autism;

• Attributing clinically observed autistic symptoms to excessive screen consumption risks delaying the diagnosis and treatment of underlying developmental disorders;

• Finally, screen addiction has to date been recognised neither by the Académie de médecine (2012), nor by the Académie des sciences (2013), nor even by the most recent DSM-5; the WHO is currently in talks on the subject, but if it chooses to recognise this addiction, it will be a matter of seeing with what criteria, and it is highly unlikely to concern children under 4.

The risks linked to excessive screen use among young children are very real and they have been the subject of several studies (consequences for attention, concentration, the development of empathy, social and relational skills). However, it is not by waving the spectre of autism or drugs that they will be limited, but by carrying out work of information and education that makes it possible to foster the emergence of a connected and responsible society.

This is the challenge we must take up collectively, to put in place rules for good screen use with an informed and reasoned concern for prevention.

Signatories on behalf of their association:

Jacques Angelergues (vice-president, Cerep-Phymentin), Patrick Belamich (president, Fédération des Centres Médico Psycho Pédagogiques), François-Marie Caron (past president, Association Française de Pédiatrie Ambulatoire), Marie-Noëlle Clément (vice-president, Programme de Recherches et d’Etudes sur l’Autisme), Michel Dugnat (president, Association Recherche Information Périnatalité), Agnès Florin (president, Association Francophone de Psychologie et de Psychopathologie de l’Enfant et de l’Adolescent), Bernard Golse (president, Coordination Internationale entre Psychothérapeutes Psychanalystes s’occupant de personnes avec Autisme et membres associés), Jean-François Havreng (president, Association Nationale des Hôpitaux de Jour), William Lowenstein (president, SOS addictions), Denis Mellier (co-president, World Association for Infant Mental Health France), Georges Picherot (president, Groupe de Pédiatrie Générale de la Société Française de Pédiatrie), Pascal Plantard (co-director, Groupement d’Intérêt Scientifique M@rsouin), Dominique Ratia Armengol (president, Association Nationale des Psychologues pour la petite enfance), Catherine Salinier (president, Pédiatres du Monde), Pierre Suesser (co-president, Syndicat National des Médecins de PMI), Serge Tisseron (president, Trois Six Neuf Douze), Michel Wawrzyniak (president, Fédération Nationale des Ecoles des Parents et des Educateurs)

We have since been joined by other professional associations: Edmond Perrier (president, Association d’Etude en Pédopsychiatrie)

As well as by several parents’ associations: Mireille Battut (president, La Main à l’Oreille), Fabrice Bonnet (president, Autisme Pluriel), Rica Levy (president, Association Pelagie), Patrick Sadoun (founding president, Rassemblement pour une Approche des Autismes Humaniste et Plurielle, and Autisme Liberté)