A year ago, the French president reached out to scientists and experts for guidance on regulating children’s screen time due to concerns about its impact on cognitive and emotional development. After a three-month study, a 142-page report was published by child psychiatry and neurology experts. The report recommended that cell phones be avoided by children under 11 years old and internet access should be limited for those between 11 and 13. Social networks like TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat should be restricted until the age of 18.
Furthermore, the report emphasized the importance of limiting screens in maternity wards to facilitate bonding between parents and newborns. Similar restrictions were proposed for nannies caring for babies. For children up to six years old, experts recommended minimal screen time and only watching educational content on TV, computers, or tablets when supervised by an adult. Kindergartens were advised to ban screens entirely for children under six, while primary schools were discouraged from providing individual tablets or digital devices unless necessary.
Experts pointed out that excessive screen time can negatively impact children’s intelligence, cognitive processes, attention span, vision, metabolism, sleep quality sensory regulation weight management communication skills in children adolescents social media algorithms are designed to create addictive behaviors in children leading restlessness boredom difficulty in social interactions developmental issues clinical psychologists child psychiatrists agree that excessive screen time can impair wellbeing healthy development prioritize it is recommend avoiding screen exposure for children under six limiting it no more than hour hour half per day for those aged six twelve agree creating agreements among parents enforce these guidelines collectively ultimately goal is
