• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

World Health Org: Children 1 year and under should not be exposed to any electronic screens, 2-4: no more than 1 hour “sedentary screen time” per day

CyberPanda

Banned
Children younger than a year old shouldn’t be exposed to any electronic screens, according to guidelines issued Wednesday by the World Health Organization.

The United Nations agency, issuing its first such guidelines, also recommended that children ages 2 to 4 have no more than one hour of “sedentary screen time” — including playing computer games or watching TV — per day. It emphasized that young kids need be physically active and get enough sleep, habits that go a long way in preventing obesity and other diseases later in life.

“Achieving health for all means doing what is best for health right from the beginning of people’s lives,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement. “Early childhood is a period of rapid development and a time when family lifestyle patterns can be adapted to boost health gains.”

The action comes amid growing research into the developmental effects of the widespread use of computers and mobile devices by children. One concern is that the mesmerizing effects of videos keep young children from connecting with their parents and others, a key facet in building the sophisticated social skills that are central to human development.

Surveys have consistently shown that children have been exposed to rising amounts of screen time in recent years, including by parents struggling with the challenges of managing the moods and time demands of young children. Many of the most popular channels on YouTube, for example, feature nursery rhymes, simplistic games and other content that appeal to preschoolers. (YouTube long has maintained that its service is intended for those 13 or older.)

“It’s extraordinarily important that someone with the authority and reach of the WHO is saying this,” said Josh Golin of the Campaign for a Commercial Free-Childhood, an advocacy group based in Boston. He said of screen time for children, “It’s not essential to learning, and it’s not effective at teaching.”

Golin also said that studies show worrying signs of possible developmental effects on the ability of children to acquire language and social skills. Even the use of mobile devices by parents can affect their children by distracting mothers and fathers from the routine interaction young minds crave, he said.

 
When I lived with my friends (married couple) I was around for two of their children being born (lived with them for like 5 years) and man they just put those kids in front of a huge ass TV and played Yo Gabba Gabba on loop all day everyday.

It’s one of those things where I’m just a guy renting a room in their house and I don’t know shit about parenting but I felt like saying “yo maybe we should go outside and play in the sand or something?” but it just felt inappropriate for me to comment

Edit

I’m exaggerating a little bit. But you get the general idea.
 
Last edited:

CyberPanda

Banned
When I lived with my friends (married couple) I was around for two of their children being born (lived with them for like 5 years) and man they just put those kids in front of a huge ass TV and played Yo Gabba Gabba on loop all day everyday.

It’s one of those things where I’m just a guy renting a room in their house and I don’t know shit about parenting but I felt like saying “yo maybe we should go outside and play in the sand or something?” but it just felt inappropriate for me to comment
That’s child abuse! How dare they show them Yo Gabba Gabba!😷
 
Yeah, screens are stupefying on a child's brain. Far more instances of "positive feedback" per minute than almost anything else the child will encounter. If they get sucked into screens at a young age before they've learned how to deal with impatience, boredom, frustration, "not having anything to do", etc they will be forever spoiled.
 

Pagusas

Elden Member
Stupid question, but relevant to the world:

So kids who start using screens at that age have a better chance at being technologically savvy and making it in the world better than those who have families who actively try to avoid tech at a young age?
 
Not only kids but grown adults. Screen time, especially on phones is the most destructive addiction in the world today. Not only does it damage you but it also damages society
 

iamvin22

Industry Verified
Not only kids but grown adults. Screen time, especially on phones is the most destructive addiction in the world today. Not only does it damage you but it also damages society

What, how? Since I started watching YouTube I've learned a ton of skills and I've planned a shit load more trips and activities with my family.
 
What, how? Since I started watching YouTube I've learned a ton of skills and I've planned a shit load more trips and activities with my family.
No doubt. just like people who drink aren't alcoholics and all stoners aren't deadbeats. On the whole though, phones have turned the majority of people into zombies. They are addicted to looking at their screen, they cant help it. Restraunts, films, while driving etc. People need to look at their phone. There's nothing of importance happening, but they feel the urge to look, swipe and ignore reality.

Watch any video where there's a crowd of people all having a tussle. At one point, 90% of the people will all get their phones out and go in a trance like state just filming.

A lot of our future mental health issues will be blamed on the internet and social media, but the phone itself fucks up your mind. I can do a whole long post if you want or i can do bullet points but trust me, the phone is designed to keep you engaged in the phone
 

SatansReverence

Hipster Princess
Seeing kids who were brought up on screens is heart breaking at times. They lack even the most basic social skills at times.

Thet act more like a meth addict than anything else.
 

Dthomp

Member
Seeing kids who were brought up on screens is heart breaking at times. They lack even the most basic social skills at times.

Thet act more like a meth addict than anything else.

Yup, this study is beyond true. My sister has three kids (13, 7, and 3?) and all of them had tablets thrown in front of their faces at the earliest stage possible and I swear they are all dumber then fucking bricks. No attention span, and as somebody above said it creates a need of constant stimulation and attention that just isn't realistic. The kids think that having a tablet in front of them all day is just normal, it's a sad world we live in these days. Glad I'm closer to the end then the beginning.
 

Tesseract

Banned
these are questionable, they're tied to advocacy groups who are running backwards from conclusions they've already set

putting a child on a computer can only be a good thing if you guide them, my niece is 7 and already starting to code

< 1 or 2 i understand, since you'll probably wanna maximize their social input

also this quote 'It’s not essential to learning, and it’s not effective at teaching.' is just straight up wrong, the future of teaching and learning is in modules, not classrooms with teachers
 
Last edited:

Weilthain

Banned
My experience is that the children who are denied watching kids youtube etc and playing video games are the ones who get obsessed with it because it's like a forbidden fruit, yet those like my kid who get mostly free access have a far more casual approach to it.

Listening to BBC radio as I do at work you get to hear the crazy middle and upper class out of touch parents call in on the discussion about 'screen time' and they are talking about "my kid is so used to staring at his hands where the phone is, when I take him swimming he panics because he can't see his hands! Its because of the 1 hour he is looking at screens that is the problem" National Radio people.

I was born in'83 and I had free access growing up to a VCR player with my fav cartoons and movies, along with games consoles/handhelds and the C64's and Amstrads of the day. Yet while I did spend a lot of time 'staring at screens' I also spent way more time being a kid playing with action figures and roaming the streets on our bikes and all that stuff kids don't seem to be allowed to do these days because society is going to shit. Blame screens instead.

edit: yea 1-2 years old ofcourse better to actually parent them yourself instead of leaving it to a screen.
 
Last edited:

pimentel1

Banned
And here’s CNN telling people why they ignore this data.


Just like ignore being mad at Facebook and deleting your profile will hurt you more than them because they already know everything about you:


And it makes me ask why? Why does CNN want people to listen to their data on everything else, yet ignore this data meant to protect you and your kids, to ignore these breaches of trust? And the only thing that I can come back with is that they want to know everything about you, from year 1 and up, so that they can monitor, manipulate, and control.

For the good of society, delete your facebook, instagram accounts. Get your kids off these machines.
 
Last edited:
I was staring at a CRT screen from 2 years of age, 5-6 hours a day. Granted I was consuming quality 80's cartoons that actually bothered to tell elaborate tales and taught us things about the world. I can see how a child could suffer brain damage from the crap on youtubes featured page or worse still, the crap on tv today. It ain't no Ninja Turtles or OG Transformers.

As for vision, I'm mid-30's, my vision is still immaculate.
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom