On 9 April 2019, a working group set up on the initiative of the Académie des sciences, the Académie de médecine and the Académie des technologies presented a joint report on children, families and screens, subtitled “A call for reasoned vigilance on digital technologies”.
No screens before age 3 – this applies to parents too
The call first mentions the now well-known negative effects of screens on young children’s psychomotor and relational development, as well as on their ability to learn. It specifies, however, that it is difficult to distinguish between, on the one hand, the possible intrinsic harmfulness of screens for young children and, on the other, unsuitable parenting practices of which the management of screens is only one aspect among others.
Finally, it reminds us that if putting a young child in front of a screen can harm their psychomotor and emotional development, parents’ use of their own mobile phone while looking after them is just as harmful: our children need our gaze, so let us not put our mobile phone between them and us!
Speak of pathological use of screens rather than “addiction”
It is pointed out that the notion of addiction must be approached with caution in the case of screens, because it corresponds to a precise medical definition, reserved for particularly serious conditions. Moreover, these extreme situations are often associated with psychiatric disorders such as depression, anxiety, phobias or personality disorders.
Reduce social disparities in the use of digital technologies
Not all children and teenagers live in equivalent family, cultural and social contexts, and the risk of misuse of screens appears all the more worrying when the child is in a vulnerable situation: lack of work or job insecurity, the family’s material difficulties, too great a distance from educational, social or medical services, an impoverished cultural context are all factors that can make it difficult, or even impossible, to understand digital technology, to be educated in the use of screens, to develop critical distance and the indispensable self-regulation.
The divide between those who are prepared to benefit from what digital technology offers and those for whom it may aggravate pre-existing difficulties is today a problem of social justice as much as of public health.
Worrying strategies used by video game makers to keep players hooked
The risks of disinhibited communication and harassment, made easier by the possibility of anonymity on social networks, have been denounced for several years. They are made worse by strategies aimed at holding users’ attention and obtaining ever more information to feed the providers’ immense databases. But the evolution of video games is now a new cause for concern. Some publishers employ the services of psychologists and neuroscience specialists to introduce techniques that keep players playing for as long as possible. These techniques are identical to those proven in gambling, and some are used in games whose main customers are minors. It is therefore essential that manufacturers better inform users and their parents about these strategies and their dangers.
Avoid screens in the evening
Their light, particularly the blue component, increases alertness by inhibiting the secretion of melatonin, the key hormone for falling asleep. The result is sleep disorders that can lead to tiredness and attention problems, and affect school results and social life. Screens should be avoided in the evening and at night. Here again, the parents’ role is crucial. Let us never allow a teenager to take their mobile phone into their bedroom: let us buy them an alarm clock, and do the same ourselves to set a good example!
In conclusion, the Academies recall the essential role of parents in the proper use of screens and in the child’s development, both as an educating authority and as a model to imitate. The aim is not solely to limit access to screens, except, to a large extent, for the youngest children, but always to accompany their discovery and use. An opinion that is decidedly in line with the 3/6/9/12 milestones, which have been organised since 2008 around three principles: alternation, accompaniment and learning self-regulation.
Serge Tisseron is a psychiatrist, a doctor of psychology qualified to supervise research, a member of the Académie des technologies and an associate researcher at Université Paris VII Denis Diderot (CRPMS).
