Regulating access to screens for children is one of its priorities announced by Emmanuel Macron during his press conference on Tuesday January 16. A group of experts must produce work by March on “good use for our children in families” like at school, in the words of head of state.
This group of experts of ten members was met for the first time on January 10, said the Elysée, which communicated its composition on Wednesday January 17. It is co-chaired by neurologist and neurophysiologist Servane Mouton and professor of psychiatry Amine Benyamina, head of the department of psychiatry and addictology at Paul-Brousse hospital in Villejuif (Val-de-Marne). The eight other members come from diverse backgrounds: an epidemiologist, a psychologist, two lawyers, two education specialists and two digital specialists.
Four areas of work have been set: bring out a shared observation of the impact of screens on the physical and mental health of children and adolescents, assess the effectiveness of existing regulatory systems, particularly parental control, develop a regulatory doctrine screens and finally offer and promote tools adapted to all audiences, with differentiated approaches according to age.
To achieve this, the experts will review the scientific literature and interview several people. “This multifocal commission will have to ensure that these recommendations are applicable at the legal and European level”describes Amine Benyamina, for whom “the president’s ambition is not necessarily to ban but to move towards a paradigm shift in the use of the screen”.
Distraught parents
It’s obvious that screen time continues to increase, from a very young age. As a result, more and more parents are distraught when it comes to digital uses and risk awareness. “Spending time in front of a screen has an impact on a child’s emotional, sensory and cognitive development”, insisted the head of state. This has also been shown by numerous scientific studies.
A study in The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, published in September 2023, however highlighted that the context of use and the family environment would play a more important role than the time spent in front of a screen. Screen time also weighs on interaction time, with parents in particular – who themselves may be on their screen – and encroaches on time spent doing sports, reading, sleeping… The president of the République also castigated the high consumption of social networks, devoid of information hierarchy, which disturbs the “relation to the truth”.
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