2024-05-04 08:29:29
In the latest report published on the effects of children’s use of smart devices and tablets at early ages, the report presented shocking results that were presented for the first time, indicating not only psychological or physical damage, but more than that.
A report prepared by experts commissioned by French President Emmanuel Macron revealed that children should not be allowed to use smartphones until they reach the age of 13. Rather, they should be banned from accessing traditional social media such as TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat until they reach 18 years of age.
The strongly worded report added that children need to be protected from the “for-profit technology industry’s strategy to capture children’s attention, and use all forms of cognitive bias to keep children away from their screens, control them, re-engage them and monetize them.”
The report also said that children have become a “commodity” in the new technology market, according to what was reported by the Guardian newspaper.
The three-month study conducted by scientists and experts indicated that children under the age of three should not be exposed to screens, including television, and no child should have a phone before the age of 11.
She also said that any phone given to a child between the ages of 11 and 13 must be a phone that cannot access the Internet, and set the minimum age at which he should be allowed to have a smartphone connected to the Internet at 13 years.
He noted that a 15-year-old should only be able to access what he described as “ethical” social media.
While I found that traditional social media that are widely marketed and aim for profit, such as TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat, should not be available to teenagers until they reach 18 years of age.
Teens should also get better education about science, in addition to getting enough sleep.
In parallel, the report made equally strict recommendations for little ones, saying phones and screens should be limited as much as possible in maternity wards to help parents bond with their babies.
For children up to age six, screens of all types should be “strictly limited” and rarely used for educational content when sitting with an adult.
Screens should also be completely prohibited in kindergartens for children under the age of six. In primary schools, children should not be given tablets or individual digital devices to work on, unless this is due to a specific disability.
The report also suggested banning online games, except for those used as audio for storytelling.
In addition, he said that this matter harms the emotional development of young people as well. They included adults using their phones while feeding young children, or homes where the TV was constantly running in the background.
The scientists concluded that “parental control” should not be viewed as an adequate means of protecting children.
Instead, it was an ineffective distraction, promoted by the tech industry to “get itself off the hook” by creating algorithms, especially within social media, designed to addict and monetize children.
Last updated: May 1, 2024 – 23:11
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2024-05-04 08:29:29