Collectif Surexposition Écrans

The Collectif Surexposition Écrans (often abbreviated CoSE or COSE) is a French independent collective of field professionals working in childhood, health and education. It was formed around a public alert published as a tribune in Le Monde on 31 May 2017, in which its members described a worrying clinical evolution: a growing number of young children presenting significant delays in communication, language and cognition, alongside an increase in the time those children spent in front of screens. The collective's stated purpose is to warn about the effects of excessive screen exposure and to promote an environment more favourable to child development. The collective presents itself as independent of any digital industry and says it acts freely in the interest of children and families. It addresses parents, early-childhood professionals, teachers, caregivers, public decision-makers and citizens. Its website offers reliable information, resources and tools to help understand the effects of screens on children and to act against overexposure. For parents, it provides reference points, advice and resources on screen time and screen addiction; for professionals, it offers material adapted to their practice. A key step in its organisation was the decision to constitute a collective around a charter, so that a multi-professional voice could be heard, given that all areas of child development — language, somatic and physical development, cognition and affect — are affected by screen overexposure. Opening the collective to professionals and parents is described as a societal commitment: being numerous to support the alert about the effects of screen overexposure that disrupt young children's development. The public is invited to support CoSE by signing the charter. The collective's emergence followed media coverage of its 2017 tribune, including interviews in the written press, on television channels and on radio. Its members state that they have no conflicts of interest and that their only interest is that of the child. The organisation is documented in Wikidata as a French NGO. Its activity is centred on France and on French-language resources.

The Collectif Surexposition Écrans (CoSE/COSE) grew out of the shared concerns of professionals who had, for several years, been warning about the consequences of screen overexposure in articles, colloquia, reflection commissions, and before professional and parent associations. On 31 May 2017, they published a tribune in Le Monde relating their worrying clinical experience: an evolution in the number of young children presenting significant delays in the development of communication, language and cognition, and a common observation of an evolution in the time these children spent in front of screens. The text drew on international research. The publication of the tribune opened media spaces for the collective: interviews in the written press, on television channels and on radio. It then became necessary to constitute a collective around a charter, in order to carry a multi-professional message, since all fields of child development are affected by screen overexposure — language, somatic and physical development, cognition and affect. Opening the collective to professionals and parents was presented as a societal commitment: being numerous to support the alert about the effects of screen overexposure that disrupt young children's development. The collective describes itself as independent of any digital industry and as acting freely in the interest of children and families. It states that its members are field professionals working daily with families, that their only interest is the child's, and that they declare themselves free of conflicts of interest. It invites the public to support CoSE by signing its charter. Its website, surexpositionecrans.fr, serves as its main platform, offering information, resources and tools for parents, early-childhood professionals, teachers, caregivers, public decision-makers and citizens. Wikidata records the organisation as a French NGO.

• 2017

  Publication of a tribune in Le Monde on 31 May 2017 alerting to young children's developmental delays and screen time.

• 2017

  Media coverage follows the tribune, with interviews in written press, television and radio.

• Decision to constitute a collective around a charter to carry a multi-professional voice.

• Opening of the collective to professionals and parents as a societal commitment.

Independent, multi-professional and conflict-of-interest-free collective acting in the interest of children and families against screen overexposure.

• surexpositionecrans.fr information platform

  Website offering reliable information, resources and tools on children's screen exposure for parents, professionals and citizens.

• CoSE charter

  A charter around which the collective is constituted and which the public is invited to sign in support.

• Parent resources

  Reference points, advice and resources on screen time and screen addiction for families.

• Professional resources

  Resources for early-childhood, health and education professionals.

1. 1Lutter ensemble contre l'addiction aux écrans des enfantssurexpositionecrans.fr
2. 2Découvrir le collectif CoSEsurexpositionecrans.fr
3. 3Collectif surexposition écranswikidata.org