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Stéphane Clerget (Child Psychiatrist)
Under the pretext of her need “to relax”, a young English mother, Jay, admits on her social networks to having already left her children 10 hours in a row on screens. What is the reasonable limit not to exceed? Let’s take stock with Dr. Stéphane Clerget, child psychiatrist.
Letting children self-regulate their screen time is the bet made by Jay Whitfield, a 37-year-old young mother who shares her daily life on Instagram. Her credo: to show a normal life, not made up of perfect children, but as close as possible to reality.If you can’t afford childcare, I don’t see the harm in turning on the TV so you can do things. I’ve always been pretty relaxed about that.” she said.
She leaves her children in front of screens for up to 10 hours a day
The young mother admits that being honest attracts “haters” to her, that is, people who post hateful content in the comments of her posts. But she also assures that it reassures many parents, who thank her for showing this “normality”.
This is how she explains that, after “two big days spent outside”, she let her children, aged 7 and 14, spend ten hours on screens, to “relax”. However, she sets a limit: “We make sure that the screens are turned off half an hour before bedtime”.
Time wasted to “do something more interesting” recalls Dr. Clerget
Is it reasonable to leave children so much time in front of screens? For child psychiatrist Stéphane Clerget, leaving children so much time in front of screens is not useful for their development.The problem is not that children are in front of screens, but that it represents less time for their development” explains our expert.While they are in front of a tablet or a phone, they are not doing an activity that would be more beneficial to them.”
And for the doctor, it is not necessarily an external activity. “I’m not telling busy parents to drop everything and go to a museum. But for example, a child can be given responsibility for household chores or doing an activity in their room, rather than staring at their screen.”.
Official recommendations advocate no screen time for toddlers under the age of three. For older children, the time spent should be adapted to their age, as well as the content viewed. In fact, our children spend an average of 1 hour 19 minutes per day on digital equipment, compared to 2 hours 07 minutes on weekends, and 96% of them own a screen or are exposed to one. These are the figures from a recent Ifop survey commissioned by the government in January 2023.
How can we reduce this time? “We must make it a negotiation tool” recommends the child psychiatrist. “For example, allowing two hours of extra screen time, provided that the child does two hours of another activity, outside”.
And prioritize educational content as much as possible, for older children. All with a simple limit: do not exceed one hour of screen time per year of age and per week, all screens combined, without exceeding 12 hours.For a four-year-old, this will represent four hours per week.” he concluded.