MPs draft bill against overexposure of children to screens, which “could be the evil of the century”

About a hundred majority deputies launched a digital campaign against the overexposure of children to screens on Friday, December 10, “evil of the century” according to them, with a view to drafting a bill on the subject.

“For the generations who come into the world or are educated with this omnipresence of screens, it is up to us to make the right decisions to protect their development”, say these parliamentarians in a column published in the World (paid item).

“A third of children aged 0 to 3 eat their meals in front of a screen”, which becomes a hindrance “to the acquisition of language, to the memorization of knowledge”, they underline in this text, also signed by the former socialist minister Benoît Hamon and the philosopher Gaspard Koenig.

The screens “also have a harmful influence on sleep, diet, or even the management of emotions”, they note, while between 3 and 10 years, nearly one in four children spends more than three hours a day in front of a screen. And to continue: “The heavy use of screens varies in particular according to the educational level of the parents, the socio-economic situation and the age of the mother.”

The parliamentarians want to build with the general public a proposal for a prevention law on the Purpoz.com site. The objective: to develop “a real prevention policy, educating parents, training professionals, regulating the use of screens in childcare facilities”.

The text should be tabled at the end of February in the National Assembly and should therefore not be examined within this five-year period.