CHILDREN AND SCREENS: BEWARE OF THE DANGERS | M6 | 66 minutes

“To keep my child quiet, the babysitter stuck him in front of the TV or a tablet for 7 hours a day.” These are the words of Sophie, the mother of little Paul. Nearly 3 years old, the child can barely speak. When he was diagnosed as mildly autistic, his mother decided to stop working in order to look after her son and stimulate him. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case. With the arrival of the digital age, children are put in front of a screen very early. The parents think they are doing good by leaving their offspring on a Smartphone for hours to amuse themselves. But over exposure to screens can be harmful. For a year, several doctors have been trying to alert the public authorities to the dangers presented by such machines. According to all experts, the damage caused by these objects is not yet fully known, but they agree on two points: they can hamper the cerebral development of the very young and could cause certain autistic problems. Are these tablets dangerous? Who are those responsible? What is the correct behavior to adopt?