“It is by helping families that we will prevent screens from becoming new nannies”

Rayan, Nicolas and Riley are three children sent a few months ago to the “screen overexposure” consultation, in the pediatric department of the Jean-Verdier hospital in Bondy (Seine-Saint-Denis).

At two and a half years old, Rayan does not say a word when he arrives at the hospital, but he hums the credits of his favorite cartoon over and over again, The Titounis. And for good reason: he has already watched it on television hundreds of times. Rayan’s mother raises him alone in a studio, with low income. When questioned, the findings are overwhelming: Rayan only calms down thanks to the screen, only eats in front of the screen and only falls asleep with the tablet placed in front of him.

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Nicolas, 2 years old, endlessly hums the alphabet and numbers when entering the consultation, to the pride of his parents. In fact, the little boy doesn’t use any meaningful words, he’s restless and only calms down by manipulating numbers or watching his favorite nursery rhymes. Dad, a lawyer, stayed with him at home during confinement (mom is a high school management teacher), but he was quickly overwhelmed by the double burden brought by teleworking. He went out very little so as not to “catch diseases”. Television then became a natural distraction, but screen time then slipped.

Precariousness, loneliness or depression

Riley is older, almost 2 years old, when he first arrives at the consultation, but he too does not speak and remains in his bubble. He does not play games and prefers to watch YouTube videos on repeat. Since he was little, he has been very attracted to screens and mum (alone) has suffered various vagaries of life which have weakened her. She ended up leaving Riley to watch several hours a day on the tablet of the programs he now chooses alone. The few words that are spoken in consultation are names of colors in English…

For multiple reasons, precariousness, loneliness or depression, the time of exposure to screens was major for these three children. The repercussions of this time stolen from family interactions are further aggravated by the lack of availability of parents, sometimes also on their screens (in particular due to teleworking).

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Many of the children seen in consultation at Bondy were exposed very early, often from the age of 6 months and frequently, for six to eight hours a day. Confinement contributed to this situation for a time, but since then families have kept their habit of going out infrequently and the screens have remained on.

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