Screen-based activities should be banned for children under six years old because they "permanently damage their health and intellectual abilities," five learned societies argued in a statement published Tuesday.
This "call for collective awareness" is addressed to "young parents, teachers, educators and pedagogues, caregivers, political decision-makers" and is co-signed and posted online by the French Society of Pediatrics and those of Public Health, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Ophthalmology, as well as the Francophone Society of Health and the Environment.
The current message from health authorities, "no screens before the age of three," is "clearly insufficient and must be updated in light of recent knowledge," becoming: "No screens before the age of six," they assert, a year after the report Children and Screens produced by a commission of experts commissioned by the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron.
"In 2025, there is no longer any doubt, and numerous international scientific publications are there to remind us: neither screen technology nor its content, including those supposedly 'educational', are suitable for a small, developing brain," the signatories add.
"Screens, whatever their form - television, tablet, telephone - do not meet the needs of children" and, "worse, they hinder and alter the development of their brain," warn learned societies.
Health professionals and nursery and preparatory school teachers "have observed the damage caused by regular exposure to screens before entering primary school: language delays, attention and memory problems, motor agitation, etc.," the text continues.
"While all socio-educational backgrounds are affected, exposure is higher in disadvantaged households, contributing to the increase in social inequalities."
Because the neurodevelopment of the child results from "rich and varied observations and interactions with the environment" for which "the first six years of life are fundamental."
"It's not about demonizing digital tools and their use, but there's an age for everything," emphasize these health experts, who call on parents in particular to "create an environment favorable to the health and development of the child," by encouraging "alternative activities: reading aloud, games - free, board or outdoor - physical, creative and artistic activities."
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