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Screens: will they soon be banned for children under 3 years old in nurseries or childminders?
Screens: will they soon be banned for children under 3 years old in nurseries or childminders?
(franceinfo)
Will putting a 3-year-old child in front of a screen soon be prohibited in daycare or with a childminder? This is the flagship measure of a bill which was tabled on Monday April 8 by two right-wing deputies.
Tablets, cell phones, TV… Screens are everywhere, and some parents allow them from a very young age. “He watches ‘Peter Rabbit’ or ‘Tchoupi’, ten minutes, no more, per day”, explains the mother of a two and a half year old boy, who tolerates screens for her son, but limits their use. Most of the parents interviewed on Monday April 8 by France Télévisions say they are rather against screens for children before kindergarten.
Addiction creates developmental delays
The doctors’ recommendation is clear: no screens before the age of 3. But the reality is very different. At 2 years old, children already spend 56 minutes a day in front of screens, and 1 hour 20 minutes at 3 and a half years old. This average hides more worrying cases. At the Bondy hospital, in Seine-Saint-Denis, consultations are offered for the youngest screen addicts. “When I turned off the TV, he had unbelievable fits. That’s how we knew it wasn’t going well.”, remembers the mother of a little boy taken care of in this department. This dependence creates developmental delays. A bill tabled on Monday April 8 aims to regulate the use of screens in nurseries and among home childminders.
