Screens: Strategies for Safeguarding Children from Harmful Effects

[Un article de The Conversation écrit par Teresa Rossignoli Palomeque – Personnel enseignant et chercheur, Université Nebrija]

What do we know about the real impact of screen time on neuropsychological development of the youngest? Number of learned companies and associations specializing in pediatrics recommend limiting the use of screens during childhood, especially among those under 5. However, research reveals a less binary reality than we could imagine.

Indeed, both the context of use and the content consulted condition the effects on the development that the time has spent in front of a screen can have. Let's take stock.

Physiological and neuropsychological consequences

A recently carried out meta-analysis highlighted that the prolonged use of screens is associated with eye fatigue, visual drought and an increase in the risk of infantile myopia.

In addition, technology cannot either replace games, physical activity, in contact with nature or interactions with its fellow men, in short to the stimulation to which children are subject to their environment.

Work has shown that replacing this experiences with excessive and passive use of screens can increase the risk of obesity, visual disturbances or learning difficulties.

Beyond these effects, concerns also concern the repercussions on functions such as attention, language or emotional control.

A literature review of 102 studies carried out on children under 3 years of age reveals that it is important not only to monitor screen time, but above all the way it is used, and under what conditions. Thus, the presence of an adult who comments or interacts with content promotes learning and attention. On the other hand, a passive or non -supervised exposure constitutes a risk for the cognitive development of the child.

The simple presence of a screen in the background, like a lit TV while the child plays, interferes with his activities, his attention and his interactions with others. Even if the child does not directly look at the screen.

Ultimately, it appears from these observations that tablets, phones and other televisions can become learning tools, provided you are employed for educational and supervision. Otherwise, they may restrict social interactions, so essential to the development brain.

The real issue: age and inappropriate content

We could therefore say that the main risk is not due to the screen as such, but to what it diffuses. Early exposure to unsuitable content is associated with attention difficulties and less good performance of executive functions, in particular with regard to inhibitory control (essential to behavioral and cognition regulation), as well as language delays.

Admittedly, studies do not establish direct causal links with exposure to screens. They nevertheless reveal that high levels of non -selective consumption of television, computer, telephone or tablet in very young children (approximately 3 years) are accompanied not only with less inhibitory control, but also with a lesser cerebral activation in the areas concerned (the prefrontal cortex).

In addition, watching television at the age of 2 has a negative effect on executive functions, an effect whose consequences are felt a year later. Another study, published in 2010, revealed that children who are the biggest television consumers are also those who have the lowest executive performance at the age of 4.

The simple passive consultation of video platforms such as YouTube can also harm toddlers. Children from 2 to 3 years old who were the most exposed there show less linguistic development, an effect attributed to the reduction of their social interactions.

Other work has established a link between excessive television consumption and the existence of a attention disorder with hyperactivity at 7 years, as well as with lower performance in mathematics and vocabulary. It has also been observed that an excessive exposure between 15 months and 48 months triples the risk of delay in language development. These results agree with those of other studies conducted on the exhibition of the youngest in YouTube.

Another perspective: adapting content

When the content is specifically designed for children, the consequences are no longer the same. Exposure to digital educational programs, intended to improve attention and executive functions in 4-6 year olds, leads not only to progress in these capacities, but also to an improvement in intelligence performance (measured in particular by the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test, editor's note), of attention and working memory. It would seem that innate factors, such as the presence of the DAT1 gene, which codes for the transporter of dopamine (A chemical messenger who plays an essential role in movement, motivation, pleasure and reward, editor's note), can modulate the effectiveness of these programs.

In children aged 3 to 4 years, watching educational content also improves language (digital, spatial and vocabulary concepts), especially when the narration is rich and immersive.

In addition, technology can support inclusion and intervention: in children in a situation of psychosocial vulnerability from 4 to 5 years old, digital tools stimulate working memory and self -regulation. Among autistic minors (3-16 years), digital intervention improves attention and social interaction.

Finally, the use of digital videos and media, in a context of family interactions, has made it possible to improve linguistic development in children from 2 to 4 years old with language delay.

However, it should be noted that proof of positive neuropsychological effects are more numerous from 6 years old. At this age, children are more capable of transferring the skills acquired during exercises to their daily life, which touch areas such as intelligence, emotional and behavioral regulation, academic yield, or executive functions. The effects observed go beyond the processes drawn by the digital tools used.

The solution: technology, movement and social interactions?

Despite the benefits mentioned above, it should be kept in mind that screens cannot replace unpaid fun activities, physical activity and social interactions.

That said, a recent literature review dedicated to the 4-12-year-old age group concluded that technology can play a positive role when used in the right context, being oriented towards games that engage physical activity and relationships with others.

For example, it can be to use “smart objects”, such as a balloon recording successful shots or a swing with sensors distributing virtual rewards, or setting up “pervasive games”, in other words games which, using new technologies (GPS, augmented reality, etc.), create a playful experience combining elements belonging to the two worlds.

Ultimately, technology can constitute a lever to encourage children to move, explore and socialize, provided they are used from an educational perspective.

Expert recommendations

In light of the assets and limits of the screens in terms of children's development, here are various colleges of experts have made recommendations.

The American Pediatric Academy recommends avoiding screens in the under 18 months (except video calls). For 18-24 months, only quality content, always consulted in the company of an adult, are recommended. Between 2 years and 5 years, a daily hour of maximum screens, and with educational content. Finally, it advocates avoiding screens before bedtime, using them as educational tools-not as simple distractions-and recommends that adults give an example, making sure to have healthy use of digital technologies.

The World Health Organization advises to limit the time of screens to one hour per day for 2-4 year olds, and two hours a day for 5-17 year olds.

(In France, in April 2025, five learned companies – the French Pediatric Society, the French Society of Public Health, the French Society of Psychiatry of the Child and the Adolescent, the French Ophthalmology Society and the French -speaking Society of Health and Environment – have published a forum entitled “Screen activities are not suitable for children under 6 years of age: they have permanently altered their intellectual capacities”. A year earlier, the Work Commission on screens made its report and recommended “limiting screens and their uses according to ages” and wanted to “guide adults towards good practices”, with the watchword “no screen before 3 years”, deemed insufficient by the organizations signatory to the text of the Tribune of April 2025, editor's note.))

The screen is not the enemy

To assert that the screens are “harmful” by themselves would be as strange as to consider that paper is dangerous, because it can be used to print any type of books, including poorly recommendable works. What matters is not the support, but the content, the context and the quality of the interaction with the media.

The challenge to be met with regard to screens is to find balance, to respect the development stages of children, and to make technology an ally – not an substitute for games, interactions and experiments in the physical world.