An expert report, which will be presented to the government on Tuesday, recommends banning the use of screens for children under three and mobile phones under 11, and severely restricting access in later years for minors.
In this report, which was published by several regional newspapers on Monday evening, a commission of experts specially commissioned by the executive warns of the “hyperconnected reality that children suffer” and “the consequences for their health, their development, their future” but also for the future of “our society, of our civilization”.
“Very clear consensus on negative effects”
The commission explains that it was “rushed” by “strategies to capture children’s attention”. “There is a very clear consensus on the direct and indirect negative effects of screens,” particularly in terms of sleep, a sedentary lifestyle – which promotes obesity – or even myopia,” he writes in the report, cited in Voice of the North.
Experts point to social networks as a “risk factor” for depression or anxiety in cases of “existing vulnerability”. In addition, “the level of children’s exposure” to pornographic and violent content “seems alarming,” they write.
He believes that “screens are not the cause of neurodevelopmental disorders” but require “vigilance” to “avoid worsening symptoms.”
Very limited access is recommended between three and six years
To “regain control”, they are calling for a ban on all screen use by children under the age of three, thereby opening up “heavily restricted” access for three-to-six-year-olds “with educational quality content and accompanied by an adult.” “
We need to “limit as much as possible” the use of mobile phones and televisions in maternity wards, further suggests the commission, which would like to see computers and televisions banned in nurseries and kindergarten classrooms. It calls for “reinforced action” with carers.
The commission also recommends authorizing only mobile phones from the age of 11, over the phone without internet up to 13 years. From the age of 13, he suggests giving a smartphone without access to social networks, and from the age of 15, to open this access only to “ethical” networks.
The group of experts calls for a fight against “predatory services” from economic players such as “infinite scrolling” or “auto-start video” and for users to better configure features and parental control.
