They recommend limiting exposure of electronic devices to children and young people

Higher levels of obesity, language disorders and difficulty in communication would be just some of the problems that excessive use of screens could cause in children and adolescents, according to the academic from the UTalca School of Psychology, Rosario Spencer Contreras.

Camila Bauer, Journalist UTalca.- “There are no studies that I have read that show a positive impact of the use of mobile devices in childhood. Quite the contrary, the impact in general tends to be negative, either because it affects emotional regulation, the development of language and communication, physical development in eating problems, obesity, etc., “he declared.

According to the specialist, due to the possibility of dealing with disturbing material, the use of social networks should be limited to an age where young people already have greater criteria. “

For some researchers and professionals, they should be used from intermediate adolescence, which is more or less at 16, where we already have a person with criteria, we could say different from what a 12-year-old adolescent is.

According to the specialist, there are various types of devices that can be classified as passive or active according to the level of interaction that users must have. In that sense, the effects that television would have, for example, would be very different from video game consoles, she said. “In this digital or virtual environment, in itself, the impact will also have to do with the type of device we are talking about.”

Regarding the exposure times to electronic devices, Spencer established that “in young children (0 to 2 years old) the idea is that there is no access to the screen. In preschool children, from 2 to 5, limit their use to no more than 2 hours and favoring a passive medium, such as television, And from then on, one would also have to think that we should not let a child spend more than 2 hours adding up all the screens to which they can have access, ”he explained.

parental responsibility

Spencer emphasized the importance of the role of parents or caregivers in the face of this new reality in which minors live and where they are exposed to various dangers that screens present. As she established, “we have to inform ourselves, we have to know the risks and potential benefits that this type of technology can have for children, in order to be able to effectively guide them. In other words, we would have to go one step further”.

In addition, he assured that care in front of the devices must be incorporated as one more responsibility of the parental role. “Just as we worry about what they eat, that they sleep well, that they have friends, that they are happy, we also have to worry about the interaction they have with different devices.”

Finally, he urged parents to keep talking with their children about the issue and model appropriate behavior regarding screens. “How am I going to ask my son to regulate himself if I myself am not capable of doing it? In other words, then try to set that example because the children are watching us and obviously it will be easier for them to follow our instructions if they see that we are doing it too”.