Turn on the television at cartoon time, or slip a tablet into the hands of your offspring, and there is a good chance that you will finally find calm in the house. An easy solution, but which can, at too high a dose, be harmful to the development of your child. According to one study published by Public Health France, children exposed to screens – whether television, game console, smartphone, etc. – in the morning before school would have three times more risk of developing language disorders.
The French psycho-clinician and family therapist Sabine Duflo has observed significant attention disorders in children for several years. She makes the link between these disorders and an ever greater and earlier exposure to screens. To limit the impact of digital technology on the youngest, it therefore proposed a simple method: that of the “4 steps”. A four-step method where screens are banned.
Not the morning
Screens are attention grabbers; however, the latter begins to decrease following regarding fifteen minutes. The child who looks at a screen in the morning begins his attentional “credit” even before arriving in class. At school, he may find it more difficult to sit still and concentrate. At the risk, as we have said, of developing language disorders for the little ones.
NOT during meals
Eating with the family is the perfect time to talk with your children. In addition to being less user-friendly, the smartphone at the table or the television on reduces conversations, which can also harm the development of vocabulary for the little ones.
NOT before sleeping
The succession of rapid images over-stimulate the brain. Falling asleep immediately followingwards can be less easy (and even more so with the diffusion of blue light”), and can have an impact on the quality of sleep.
NOT in the bedroom
To watch over the child’s sleep, it is still better to prevent the screens from passing through the bedroom. This can become a sanctuary where the child learns to develop important skills: sensory-motor activities, symbolic games, graphics… He can then imagine, invent.
By following this rule of “4 steps”, there are concretely only certain moments left, following snack and before dinner, when the youngest can cram themselves in front of a screen (outside school holidays). This method can therefore be difficult to implement, and also questions the relationship that parents themselves have with screens. Sabine Duflo recommends presenting it in a positive way to her child, presenting its benefits, rather than focusing on constraint.
