Created in 1999 under the name “Sport Sans Frontière”, the NGO, now called “Play International”, sees sport as a universal language that makes it possible, in the humanitarian sector, to carry out social and health actions as close to the field as possible. Sports games serve as a mediator to start a debate with children or young people and to make them think about serious subjects, take part in prevention actions and, more broadly, shift their perceptions. Currently, the NGO runs several social inclusion programmes in Kosovo, Burundi and Senegal.
Building on this international experience of using games to pass key notions on to children, Play International has developed a “playdagogie” system in which sports games and debate are used to raise students’ awareness, in an active and participatory way, of social issues (living together and health). The organisation creates educational content in the form of kits (sequences for school and/or out-of-school settings) and training for the educational community. After working on subjects as rich and varied as nutrition, disability, gender equality, the fight against discrimination and violence, Play International sought to design a kit of sports games and discussion that can be used in schools, whose aim is to lead children to adopt a reasoned use of screens. The 3 6 9 12 association was co-opted for its expertise and two of its members, Coralie Raynaud and Thérèse Auzou-Caillemet, worked together with Play International, under the guidance of Serge Tisseron. They took part in the design and in the pre- and post-test evaluation, and contributed to the co-construction of the 6 sessions of the “Using screens well” kit.
On 6 February 2020, Play International officially presented the result of this project, alongside Serge Tisseron, Amandine Thibert, a primary school teacher who uses playdagogie, and Olivier Masson-Halimi, project officer for digital practices at the MILDECA. It was an opportunity for Serge Tisseron to recall the importance of the body and the group for children. Through the “playdagogic” system, engaging the body through physical play allows students to experience unexpected emotions. Engaging the body means engaging the emotions, which makes the educational message more memorable. The brain remembers well what is emotionally invested. This is confirmed by Amandine Thibert from her field experience: using sport as a tool to talk about screens means that many students take an interest in this theme without fear of stigmatisation. Without demonising their use, it brought about an awareness of the impact of screens on oneself, one’s health and one’s motor development. More often in a position of passivity than interactivity in front of a screen, the students, as the sequences went on, realised that they could be actors in their use of screens (time spent, checking information…). The playful side made it easy to get into the activity, and the “all together” aspect is very interesting for prompting reflection. The kit lays good foundations and allows the reflection to be continued in class if desired.
Serge Tisseron stressed the importance of showing children that screens are not only what we watch but also what we talk about. Emotions are mobilised by screens (even in their bodies), and children and teenagers have few places to talk about what they have seen and what they have felt. They can feel very alone, and adults (parents, educators, teachers…) must re-establish this dialogue with them so that they can step back from images, by putting words to their emotions. This “Using screens well” kit also relies on children’s ability to carry messages into their families, to inform them about the risks linked to overexposure to screens and to build reference points for a reasoned use.
The 3-6-9-12 association is delighted to have shared its expertise and to have joined in creating this kit in partnership with Play International, whose project stages you can find by following this link: https://www.play-international.org/sites/default/files/2020-10/Evaluation%20BULE%20VF.pdf
If you are an education professional, you can also download the kit by following this link: https://www.play-international.org/kit/scolaire/sco-kit-bule
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Thérèse Auzou-Caillemet is a doctoral student in education sciences.
