Children and screens: what do the new recommendations really change ?

L'édition 2017 de l'étude Junior Connect' 2017, réalisée par Ipsos, révélait déjà que les enfants âgés de 1 à 6 ans passaient en moyenne 4h37 sur internet par semaine. kieferpix/Getty Images

An expert report on the exposure of children and adolescents to screens was submitted this Tuesday, April 30 to Emmanuel Macron. But are these really different from what was recommended until then on a national and international scale ? Here is what the High Council of Public Health (HCSP) and the High Council of Public Health (HCSP) recommend. #39;World Health Organization (WHO) for several years.

The commission of experts commissioned by the Head of State recommends in particular banning the use of screens, whatever they are be, to children under 3 years old, and to ban cell phones to children under 11 years old.

That's not all since specialists also recommend limiting access to cell phones between 11 and 15 years old. This would include allowing children to own a telephone from the age of 11 but without access to the internet until the age of 13, then without access to social networks until the age of 13. age 15.

Recommendations which would ultimately not be so far removed from those made by the World Health Organization (WHO) at the global level and by the High Council for Public Health (HCSP) at the global level. national until then, even by certain renowned psychiatrists. The proof in threes.

Limit screens before 5 years in France

For the youngest children, namely before the age of 3, the recommendations were until then essentially the same as those formulated in the report submitted today to the president of the Republic. The HCSP recommends "proscribing [screens] if the conditions for parental interaction are not met".

Contrary to the new instructions made by the committee of experts, this advice only concerns the youngest, stricto sensu, but the HCSP also recommends banning 3D screens for children aged under 5 years, to avoid screens in children's bedrooms, to prohibit their use one hour before bedtime, and to accompany the consumption of ;screen based on screens, age categories and content".

As a reminder, the 2017 edition of the Junior Connect' 2017, carried out by Ipsos, already revealed that children aged 1 to 6 spent an average of 4 hours 37 minutes on the internet per week, or 55 minutes more compared to 2015, and compared to 'only' 2h10 in 2012. Note also that in theory, adolescents under 13 are not supposed to be able to register on social networks, and that the digital majority is even set at 15 by the law of July 7, 2023.

What about instructions on a global scale

The recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO) regarding children's exposure to screens are significantly different, although it is Here again, try to limit them as much as possible before the age of 5. In detail, the health authority explains: "It is not recommended to place a one-year-old child in front of a screen (to watch television , a video or a video game). At two years old, one hour in front of the screen should be a maximum; less is more. One hour maximum is also what the WHO recommends for children aged 3-4 years.

In Canada, the pediatric society hammers out the same recommendations, although the latter appear more advanced. We can read in a guide addressed to parents: "Screen time is not recommended for children under the age of two. For children ages two to five, limit regular screen time to less than one hour per day".

There are, however, no instructions related to duration, or prohibitions, for children over 5 years old. However, the Canadian Pediatric Society recommends, among other things, establishing a "family media plan", and to modify it regularly to update "individualized time" and "content limits", but also to talk about said content with your children and to be available and present when the children use the screens.

On the importance of the 3-6-9-12 rule

We can see that the new recommendations given to Emmanuel Macron are much more precise than those issued until now by the national and international health authorities, but it would be forgotten that there exists a much more specific, precise and strict rule, that of 3-6-9-12, developed in 2008 by the psychiatrist Serge Tisseron and regularly mentioned by the Interministerial Mission for the Fight against Drugs and Addictive Behaviors.

This time it is about avoiding screens before the age of 3, limiting them between 3 and 6 years "from half an hour at 3 years old to 1 hour maximum per day at 6 years old", to set rules with the child between 6 and 9 years old (without specify a time limit), then "encourage him to manage his distractive screen time" and to favor "a flip phone without Internet or touch screen" between 9 and 12 years old. Recommendations which are more similar to those presented today to Emmanuel Macron.