On the eve of the anniversary of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child, on 19 November 2018, Jacques Toubon, the Defender of Rights, and Geneviève Avenard, Deputy Defender of Children’s Rights, published “From birth to 6 years: the beginning of rights”. The aim of this report is to influence the decisions of the public authorities so as to bring them as closely as possible into line with the need to respect children in their development, abilities and skills. This text, the outcome of a considerable number of hearings of observers and experts, contributions and working meetings, makes recommendations to mobilise the State, but also institutional and professional actors, around the need to act in the best interests of the youngest children, as provided for by the International Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The fifteenth recommendation particularly catches our attention: “The Defender of Rights recommends that the government commission research to better understand the risks of the use of digital devices by very young audiences today. In the meantime, it recommends that the public authorities apply a strict precautionary principle by prohibiting the exposure of children under three to screens in the places that care for them, and by allowing such exposure, for children over three, only in an accompanied and limited manner, and within an educational project.”
Many early childhood settings, including nursery schools, seem to continue to expose young children passively, out of habit, for practical reasons (rainy weather and no covered playground), but above all through a lack of information about the potential risks and/or a lack of training and awareness among their staff (including teachers).
The recommendations of this report are in line with those of the National Strategy to Support Parenting, whose working perspective 8 is to “Raise parents’ awareness and train professionals about the risks of overexposing young children to interactive screens”. The report of the Academies of Sciences, Medicine and Technologies, “The child, the adolescent, the family and screens”, of 9 April 2019, also calls for reasoned vigilance regarding digital technologies.
It seems more essential than ever to inform and train all early childhood professionals about the consequences of exposing very young children to screens.
Every moment of screen time is time lost for rich and varied interactions involving all the senses, which are the only ones necessary for the harmonious development of the young child. The “Association 3 6 9 12 – Tame screens and grow” offers the expertise of speakers to provide training for these staff.
“De la naissance à 6 ans : au commencement des droits” https://juridique.defenseurdesdroits.fr/doc_num.php?explnum_id=18097
National Strategy to Support Parenting 2018-2022 https://solidarites-sante.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/180702_-_dp_-_strategie_nationale_2018-2022vf.pdf
https://www.academie-sciences.fr/fr/Colloques-conferences-et-debats/enfant-adolescent-famille-ecrans.html
Serge Tisseron is a doctoral student in education sciences.
