Michel Desmurget, doctor in Neuroscience and director of research at the National Institute of Health and Medical Research in France, said in this interview published on our website that students spent, throughout their academic years, nearly 30,000 hours in front of a screen (using them recreationally). Something that, for the expert, causes (among other things) “delays in maturation within linguistic networks, due in part to a decrease in the time dedicated to reading and intra-family interactions.” This issue, that of overexposure to screens by minors, has also been the reason why more than 50 experts in different branches of health, pedagogy, psychology or the digital field have launched the Childhood Manifesto and Screens, which aims to promote healthy development in early childhood, from 0 to 6 years old, in addition to “raising awareness of the need to preserve children of these ages from continued overexposure to digital devices and screens, since it is a crucial stage for brain, physical and emotional development”, reads the document.
Effects of excessive consumption of screens in minors
Published on the occasion of World Internet Day, which was celebrated on May 17, it does not intend to eliminate the relationship that both adults and children have with screens, but rather emphasizes that what is really necessary “is to identify in what contexts digital devices and screens are useful and necessary.” In this way, the manifesto highlights the harmful effects that can be caused by overexposure to screens:
in brain development. The document highlights that the brain undergoes major changes during childhood, especially in the first six years of life. The use of screens can reduce the time of the different positive experiences, exploration, stimulation and play in this vital stage. On the other hand, it also underlines that different studies indicate a lower degree of learning or less reading ability, among other issues.
In physical health and development. Among the effects on health, it is indicated that screens favor a sedentary lifestyle and that their use is related to overweight and obesity, increased cardiovascular risk and musculoskeletal problems. Also with sleep disorders and with the development of visual disorders.
in emotional health. The manifesto indicates that exposure to screens in childhood is associated with difficulties in emotional regulation, increased stress response, more behavioral problems, increased risk of ADHD and increased social isolation, as well as antisocial behaviors and depressive symptomatology in older ages.
What does the manifesto propose to avoid it?
There are seven points in which experts promote different aspects to act and improve children’s relationship with screens.
Promote greater research and dissemination on the harmful effects. It is proposed that universities, research centers or different institutions continue to identify what effects screens can have on children and, on the other hand, disseminate this scientific evidence from health departments, town halls and the media.
Promote greater social awareness. The objective? Stop normalizing the use of screens in children under three years of age. In this case, special emphasis is placed on the media so that they stop using images where there are children under 6 years of age using a screen.
Improve regulation in the classification of audiovisual content. The PEGI Code is proposed as a reference (Pan-European Information on Video Games) to promote a new classification system for those under 6 years of age in terms of audiovisual content.
Raise awareness in society about the needs of the first years of life. Through awareness campaigns, sensitization and promotion of analog gaming alternatives.
Guide families. For this, teachers are asked to be trained to become transmitters about the risk factors of screens, and also to train their own families with specific workshops in which the proper use of them by adults is exposed. .
Promote family conciliation policies that allow responsible parenting. At this point they call on people with the capacity to govern and legislate to promote greater family conciliation in addition to facilitating free access to resources for early childhood and families, especially the most vulnerable.
Promote the regulation of digital technology companies so that they limit the possibilities of collecting children’s personal information for commercial purposes. With legislative initiative of the state government. Anyone who wants to can join this manifesto by signing it in this petition created on change.org.