Two in three kindergartens detect developmental problems due to over-exposure of screens

Two in every three kindergartens have detected developmental issues in children due to over-exposure to screens, according to a survey distributed among more than a hundred private centers affiliated with the Catalan Association of Kindergartens.

Almost 75% of the centers indicate a delay in language learning as the main consequence when developmental issues have been seen, as well as difficulties in eating (46%) and social isolation (42%).

More than 30% have also reported problems in establishing relationships with teachers or other children, difficulty falling asleep, and a delay in psychomotor development.

The Catalan Association of Kindergartens has made a call to "protect" children from screens and recalls the importance of allowing children "correct maturing growth" between the ages of 0-3. 

"Only in this way will we make it easier for these children to feel safe at a time when they start to explore their environment," representatives from the association say.

Rut Baqués, spokesperson for the group, points out that they have also observed that children who use screens too much have a lower tolerance for frustration.

She adds that children experience situations in their day-to-day life that they do not like and that do not satisfy the need for speed to which they have accustomed their brains with screens.

Another point highlighted by the survey is that 65% of kindergartens say they have had families where the pediatrician has observed alarming aspects in their cognitive or psychomotor development.

According to the association, face-to-face learning and the exercise of motor, cognitive and affective abilities must take precedence over the digital learning methods, and families need to act in this way to ensure the child's healthy development.

(A previous version of this article mistakenly stated that the problem was detected in one in three kindergartens, rather than two of every three.)