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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

The American Academy of Paediatrics (AAP) has revised its guidelines on screen/television exposure for infants [bbc.com] to allow for the indoctrination of 18-month-old children, from its earlier recommendation of 24 months and older:

The American Academy of Paediatrics (AAP) has announced new screen time guidelines for children aged up to two. It had recommended that children have no screen time before the age of two. But it now says children aged over 18 months can use video chat with family, and 18-month to five-year-olds can watch "high quality" programmes with parents. However, it also says physical activity and face-to-face interaction should be prioritised.

[...] Dr Steiner-Adair also called for more research into the benefits of educational apps, describing them as an "unregulated" industry. "I haven't seen who is developing the measures of learning for young children - what is actually going on?" she said. "What we do know is the toddler brain lights up for learning language the most when they are being spoken to in real life, face-to-face, by a caring adult. I would like to see more of how they assess the actual learning that goes on between 18-24 months [via screens] and how they compare it to learning from being read to by an adult from a real book."

Create a Family Media Plan [healthychildren.org] here.

Media and Young Minds [aappublications.org] (open, DOI: 10.1542/peds.2016-2591) (DX [doi.org])

Original Submission