Rayan, Nicolas and Riley are three children addressed a few months ago to the consultation of “overexposition screens”, in the pediatric service of the Jean-Verdier de Bondy hospital (Seine-Saint-Denis).
Two and a half years old, Rayan does not say a word when he arrives at the hospital, but he hums the credits of his favorite cartoon, the Titounis. And for good reason: he has already looked at him on television hundreds of times. Rayan’s mother raises him alone in a studio, with low incomes. When asked, the observation is overwhelming: Rayan only calms down thanks to the screen, only eats in front of the screen and falls asleep only with the tablet placed in front of him.
Nicolas, 2 years old, endlessly at the alphabet and figures when entering the consultation, to the pride of his parents. In fact, the little boy does not use any word that makes sense, he is agitated and only calms down by manipulating figures or looking at his favorite nursery rhymes. Papa, a lawyer, stayed with him at home during confinement (mom is a high school management professor), but he was quickly overwhelmed by the double charge brought by teleworking. It was very little out of not “catching diseases”. Television then naturally imposed itself as a distraction, but the screen time then slipped.
precariousness, loneliness or depression
Riley is older, almost 2 years, when he arrives the first time at the consultation, but he does not speak either and stays as in his bubble. He does not play and prefers to watch loop videos on Youtube. Since he was small, he has been very attracted to screens and mom (alone) has undergone different vagaries of life that weakened him. She ended up letting Riley watch for several hours a day on the tablet of the programs he now chooses alone. The few words that are pronounced in consultation are colored names in English…
For multiple reasons, precariousness, loneliness or depression, the exposure time to screens was major for these three children. The repercussions of this time stolen from family interactions are still aggravated by the little availability of parents sometimes also on their screens (especially due to telework).
Many children seen in consultation in Bondy were exposed very early, often from the age of 6 months and frequently, for six to eight hours a day. Containment has participated in this situation for a time, but since then, families have kept their habit of going out little and the screens have remained on.
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