Years ago, the technological gurus of Silicon Valley decided to reduce the use of mobile screens by their children to a minimum due to the harm it could cause to their development. “I am convinced that the devil lives in our cell phones and is ruining the minds of our young people,” Athena Chavarria, who was an executive assistant at Facebook, told The New York Times.
On the other side of the Atlantic, many parents are unaware of the risks. A survey among private daycare centers in Catalonia indicates that two out of three centers have detected cases in which overexposure to screens has caused a delay in the child’s development, mainly in language.
“For a few years now, those of us who are dedicated to early childhood have realized that the appearance of language is increasingly later, when we are carrying out the same stimulation as always,” explains Mireia Català, spokesperson for the Catalan Association. by Llars d’Infants. 75% of the daycare centers belonging to this organization (more than a hundred) consider that the abuse of screens in early childhood has caused an increase in language problems in the form of delays and alternations.
After language, the aspects of development altered are food (46%, the child has difficulty eating without a screen) and social isolation (42%). More than 30% of centers identify problems when establishing relationships with teachers and other children, difficulty falling asleep and delays in psychomotor development.
During the pandemic and with teleworking, parents were more aware of the screens than the children. These, in turn, are distracted by their cell phone or tablet. That way they don’t bother you. At home, in the restaurant, on the bus, on a stroll in the stroller… “Before on the bus, in line at the store, people talked to the children, they told them something.
Now the child, who needs stimuli to grow and learn, does not receive this communication because in the park or on the subway people are looking at their cell phones. This is how language is delayed. As a pedagogue and education expert, I attribute it to everyday moments, and it is an alarming situation,” argues Català.
“Studies show that using the screen as a babysitter should be prohibited,” says psychologist Josep Lluís Matalí, head of the addictive behavior unit at the Sant Joan de Déu hospital. “From zero to five years is the period of greatest neuronal growth and we have a lot of data on the effects of screens in this population: ophthalmological problems, sedentary lifestyle, language acquisition, musculoskeletal problems, and one thing that worries us a lot, that It is the impact on neurodevelopment, attention, and socialization. “They are children with less emotional regulation, who have more tantrums, and it can be a risk factor for the development of a disorder such as ADHD or anxiety or depression.”
Can you understand why screens in early childhood are reviled in the mecca of technology? In Catalonia, most of the daycare centers surveyed declare they have cases of families to whom the pediatrician recommends taking their children to these centers so that they get rid of screens at home. 80% consider that the number of children with a global delay in development due to overexposure to screens “is increasing year after year.”
“It is a hot topic that is of great concern and we are beginning to have significant data,” says Matalí. At those ages, the important thing is the bond and the game. The child needs full attention, stimulation of play and speech and interaction, adds the psychologist. And not everything is the fault of technology, he warns: “I am listening to very extreme bipolarized debates, and things are more complex and multi-causal. It seems that if we remove the screens the world will be fantastic, but if you continue to ignore it, the child will have other difficulties.”
According to Català, the advantage is that children up to 3 years old who are kidnapped by mobile phones or tablets recover from this dependence in a short time as soon as there is a drastic change in habits in the family and in daycare.
