Question 16395 — children

Summary

Mr. Aurélien Saintoul draws the attention of the Minister of Health, Families, Autonomy and People with Disabilities to a recent study which demonstrates that early and prolonged exposure to screens is associated with poorer academic performance at the age of 9-10. If the individual listening time (DEI) of the youngest (4-14 years) has decreased significantly over the last ten years, going from 1 hour 58 minutes in 2014 to 58 minutes in 2023, the television nevertheless forms part of “a continuum between the different screens and digital spaces, consumed by children from a very young age” according to Mr. Éric Delemar, Children's Defender. Under the terms of article 15 of the law of September 30, 1986, Arcom “ensures the protection of children and adolescents”. This competence establishes a set of measures imposed on channels with the aim of protecting minors. It is by example the case of the deliberation of July 22, 2008 of the CSA, which prohibits publishers established in France from broadcasting or promoting programs specifically designed for children under three years old. It is based on an opinion from the Ministry of Health which expressed itself in this direction following the appearance in 2008 of two channels aimed at babies. A recent study carried out in Singapore in 2025 and relayed by the newspaper Le Monde shows that the longer the screen time in childhood, the worse the academic results. According to Jonathan Bernard, researcher at the Center for Research in Epidemiology and Statistics (Inserm-Inrae-Université Paris Cité-Université Sorbonne-Paris Nord) and coordinator of the study, “there are “exposure windows” that are more at risk, particularly very early childhood (between 1 and 2 years old).” All the studies carried out on the subject go in the same direction senses: language development, memory, ability to concentrate, reading: all these faculties are directly affected by children's time exposed to screens. He asks whether the Government plans to extend and adapt the obligations that already apply to television channels in this area to platforms as well as content accessible online.

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