AAP Updates Recommendations for Children’s Digital Media Use
This article contains excerpts from an October 21 press release from American Academy of Pediatrics, “American Academy of Pediatrics Announces New Recommendations for Children’s Media Use.”
October 21, 2016 | The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released new policy recommendations regarding digital media use for infants, toddlers, children, and teenagers. The AAP has also published an interactive, online tool so families can create a personalized Family Media Use Plan that takes into account the health, education and entertainment needs of each child as well as the whole family.
The AAP recommends parents prioritize creative, unplugged playtime for infants and toddlers. Some media can have educational value for children starting at around 18 months of age, but it's critically important that this be high-quality programming, such as the content offered by Sesame Workshop and PBS. Parents of young children should watch media with their child, to help children understand what they are seeing.
For school-aged children and adolescents, the idea is to balance media use with other healthy behaviors. Problems begin when media use displaces physical activity, hands-on exploration and face-to-face social interaction in the real world, which is critical to learning. Too much screen time can also harm the amount and quality of sleep. AAP’s full recommendations can be viewed online.
"Children benefit from a well-rounded day of play that involves a combination of many different types of toys, including digital playthings,” said Steve Pasierb, Toy Industry Association’s (TIA) president & CEO. “Families should review the AAP’s digital media use guidelines and determine what works best for their family.”
The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 66,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults.