During a visit to Iowa, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy issued a U.S. Surgeon General’s Warning that says excessive screen use has become one of the most urgent public health challenges facing children today.
“Children are spending more time on screens than sleeping, exercising, reading, interacting face to face with family and friends,” Kennedy said.
During a news conference at an elementary school in Gilbert, Kennedy said screen time is affecting the health, development, and daily lives America kids in ways that can no longer be ignored. The report he released yesterday indicates the average American teenager spends 8.5 hours a day looking at the screen of a smart phone or computer. Kennedy said even more troubling is that screen time for six year olds is around 2.5 hours a day.
“For many children, screens dominate daily life from the moment they wake up until the moment they fall asleep,” Kennedy said. “At the same time, we are watching physical health, mental health, academic performance and social development deteriorate across an entire generation.”
Kennedy’s federal agency is encouraging tech companies to display warnings about excessive screen time on apps and devices. The agency’s also releasing a tool kit for parents, schools and other child care providers. Thirty-five states now ban or limit cell phone use in classrooms. Kennedy is an advocate of a so-called “bell to bell” policy that means students cannot use a cell phone at any time during the school day.
Kennedy said his message to children and teenagers is simple: life exists beyond the screen. “We want children to spend less time scrolling and more time living,” Kennedy said, “less time isolated online and more time connected to a family member, to their community, to nature or to real life.”
Before his stop in Gilbert, Kennedy was in the Iowa Capitol as Governor Kim Reynolds signed a bill into law that dealt with a wide variety of health issues. It say tablets and computers may be used for no more than a hour in the early elementary classrooms, plus those young student must get an average of 40 minutes of physical activity each school day.