Recently, Sweden released updated guidelines for screen use for children. According to Fortune, the guidelines state that children under the age of 2 should not have any time on screens. The new guidance from Sweden’s Public Health Agency suggests that children between the ages of 2 and 5 should have no more than an hour of screen time, including watching television, video chatting, and playing games on phones and tablets.
At ages 6 to 12, the daily amount of screen time should not exceed one to two hours, and for ages 13 to 16, Sweden advises no more than three daily hours of screen time. This is a dramatic reduction from the average six and a half hours daily Swedish teens are on screens “outside of school hours,” according to Fortune.
“For too long, smartphones and other screens have been allowed to enter every aspect of our children’s lives,” Public Health Minister Jakob Forssmed said in an announcement. He explained, “With these age-appropriate recommendations there is now an important support for children and young people, parents and other caregivers, for a more healthy, conscious and responsible use of screens and digital media.”
While many American parents might be surprised by the suggestion that babies and toddlers not be on screens at all, the guidance is prompted by data about the potentially harmful effects of screen time for developing infants. This is not data exclusive to the nation of Sweden, and the Swedish guidelines are commonsense limits that all nations should already have.
From 1999 until 2016, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommended no screens under age two. That stance was weakened in favor of emphasizing what is on the screen and who is in the room. Today, the AAP takes pains to explain that a mere numerical value is not adequate to address children’s screen time, i.e., setting a specific number of hours per age demographic. Instead of providing specific guidelines, the AAP emphasizes evaluating the quality of the content and, where possible, making screen time interactive and family-oriented.
That said, even the AAP suggests that screen time for children under 18 months of age is potentially detrimental, encouraging limited use of video chatting, for example with a parent who is traveling or out-of-state grandparents. However, since ditching the clear and concise recommendation for no screen time before age two, does anyone think that the general public is aware that the AAP recommends toddlers only video chat?
Sweden is not alone in updating guidelines. Now that smartphones and personal computers have been ubiquitous for a full decade, emerging research is helping people across the globe begin to understand how these technologies affect human growth and development.
Earlier this year, France announced the results of a study commissioned by President Emmanuel Macron. According to The Guardian, “A three-month study by scientists and experts led by a neurologist, Servane Mouton, and Amine Benyamina, the head of the psychiatry and addiction service at Paul-Brousse hospital, said children under three should have no exposure to screens — television included — and no child should have a phone before the age of 11.”
Studies of screen time and its effect on infants demonstrate a correlation between the number of daily hours of screen time and developmental delays in gross motor skills and speech. Researchers also observed poorer executive functioning.
In several studies, increased screen time in young children was also correlated with younger parents, lower socio-economic factors, maternal postpartum depression, and other factors that may contribute to developmental challenges. This has led some researchers to suggest that parental guilt is the real cause of harm and that parents should not worry about screen time. However, the observable changes in brain activity in babies and toddlers with excessive screen use suggest that in addition to other negative factors, screens themselves have a detrimental effect on children’s health and development.
What can parents take away from these studies and the recent guidelines issued in Sweden and France?
Because this is still the United States of America, we do not have to wait for the nanny state to intervene. Indeed, parents are already taking action. The Wait Until 8th initiative encourages parents and schools to commit to waiting until children are in eighth grade to give them smartphones. This simple and direct guideline, like Sweden’s guidelines, can be an entry point into a conversation about our use of technology and how it affects us and, especially, how it affects children while they are still developing.
As Sweden’s public health minister emphasized, the concern is not only with the time spent on technology, but also with the inadequate time left to do everything else that is necessary for health and well-being. When screen time is eliminated or reduced, children have more time to be outside, interact in person, and, critically, sleep.
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