Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/the-new-aap-digital-guidelines/5024041/
Pediatricians have been interested in children’s relationships with digital media since the early research on television and child behavior emerged in the 1970s. Now that TV, video games, and mobile media pervade every aspect of the child’s environment – their home, their relationships, their schools and community, and their culture – we continue to update our recommendations for pediatric providers and families about how media can be used in the healthiest ways.
The prior American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations for media use by young children (released in 2011 and 2013) were relatively easy to understand: under two years limit all screen time; from two to five years use media for no more than two hours per day; choose educational content; and parents should try to co-view with children when possible. However, since the introduction of the smartphone in 2007 and the tablet in 2011, these multi-use devices can be taken anywhere, and the nature of child media use changed substantially. In addition, survey research repeatedly showed that these guidelines were rarely followed, especially by more stressed or lower-income families. Therefore in 2016, the AAP media guidelines (http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/138/5/e20162591) were revised with the goal of reflecting the latest research, ...