American Academy Of Pediatrics Lifts[0] 'No Screens Under 2' Rule

October 21, 2016 12:05 AM ET

NPR

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

If you have young children, you may have struggled with this rule - no electronic media before age 2. Well, now you can feel a little bit off the hook[1] because that rule is out the window as of today. The American Academy of Pediatrics[美国儿科学会], which first issued the no-screens prohibition has now changed what it says. And Anya Kamenetz of the NPR Ed team is on this story.

Hi, Anya.

ANYA KAMENETZ, BYLINE: Hi, Steve.

INSKEEP: This is shocking...

KAMENETZ: (Laughter).

INSKEEP: ...Because as a parent of kids who have been under 2, I mean, you focus on this a lot. And you worry about this a lot. It's hard work.

KAMENETZ: Yes, absolutely. But here's the thing, I've spoken to some of the original authors of the no-screens-before-2 rule, which came out in 1999. And they said they actually didn't necessarily have a lot of evidence for it, even back then.

INSKEEP: Wait a minute. So it's like the tooth-flossing rule[2], where they eventually admitted they didn't really have a good basis for that either?

KAMENETZ: I don't know if it's flossgate (ph) exactly, but the thing is that media research can't move at the same pace as media itself does. And in the last decade and a half, we have this world of ubiquitous smartphones and iPads. Family habits are changing. And so it's really, really difficult to create evidence-based recommendations[循证建议]. But the American Academy of Pediatrics felt that it was really important to update the recommendations to at least reflect what families are actually doing.

INSKEEP: Was the original rule just about TV?

KAMENETZ: It was. In 1999, that was the main concern, was television for young children. There - it wasn't really possible for toddlers[(尤指处于学步期或刚学会走路的)幼童] to interact so well with computers that had keyboards.

INSKEEP: OK. I think we're getting toward the change here. If you're watching TV, you're just watching a program, for the most part. You might be doing something more with an iPad or with a computer or with a smartphone. So what's the difference? And how big is the difference?

KAMENETZ: Well, so, for babies younger than 18 months, the AAP still says that no screens at all are ideal - with one notable exception, and that is live video chat, so the Skyping-with-Grandma effect. Studies show that, you know, upwards of 90 percent of parents are taking advantage of video chat, and they believe that it doesn't count. We don't have necessarily gold-standard evidence that that's true. But there are some small observational studies[观察性研究] that show that tiny infants[婴儿/小宝宝] as young as 6 months can actually get something out of a social back and forth over a video screen, provided that there's a caregiver in the room sort of helping facilitate that.

18个月以下的婴幼儿应禁止使用任何电子设备，不过与家人的视频通话除外；

INSKEEP: OK. So let's see if we can understand a little bit better what these rules are. Don't use a screen as a babysitter. Don't use a TV, for example, as a babysitter. But you can do things where you interact?

KAMENETZ: Right. So moving on - if you - you know, so under the 15-month level, you really - you want to avoid everything except possibly video chatting. Fifteen months to 2 years, there are some very small studies that show that toddlers can learn, for example, new words from an educational video but if and only if there is a caregiver in the room that is helping them interpret what they see on the screen.

对18个月至2岁的小孩，家长应该挑选适合的节目或视频，并跟孩子一起看，帮助孩子弄明白看的是什么内容。

注：这里18个月，15个月有出入。

INSKEEP: Oh, so I can use the screen as a tool. I just shouldn't leave the kid alone with the screen.

KAMENETZ: That's exactly right. So the new AAP guideline - the bottom line is going from no screens under age 2 to avoid solo media use under age 2.

INSKEEP: Have a person there somewhere.

此前，美国儿科学会建议禁止2岁以下的孩子看电视或其他电子设备的屏幕。

现在，建议不要让2岁以下孩子单独接触电视或其他电子设备。

KAMENETZ: Yeah, that's really the focus here.

INSKEEP: Anya, thanks for the update.

KAMENETZ: Thanks, Steve.

INSKEEP: That's Anya Kamenetz of NPR's Ed team.

······

[0]lift：to end a rule or law 取消，撤销（规定或法律）

The restrictions on water usage have been lifted now that the river levels are normal.

河水的水位已经恢复正常，因此用水限制被取消了。

At last they've lifted the ban on jeans at the club.

最终他们取消了在俱乐部禁止穿牛仔裤的规定。

[1]off the hook

· If you leave the phone off the hook, you do not put it back correctly and it will not ring. （电话听筒）未挂上

· If you are off the hook, you have escaped from a difficult situation. 脱离困境，脱身

John's agreed to go to the meeting in my place so that gets/lets me off the hook.

约翰答应代替我去开会，这样我就能脱身了。

[2]tooth-flossing 牙线

······