\ Aimed at early childhood education centres, it aims to raise awareness among families about the use of screens in the home with their children.

\ From next week, posters will be distributed giving recommendations for the appropriate use of screens in early childhood.

The Regional Minister for Education and Vocational Training, Martí March, accompanied by the Director General for Early Childhood, Innovation and the Educational Community, Amanda Fernández, presents the posters for the “Zero screens from 0 to 3” campaign, which will be carried out in early childhood education centres to raise awareness among families about the use of screens in the home with the youngest children.

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For this reason, a poster has been published and will be distributed, starting next week, to all primary schools. In addition, training sessions have been organised for all members of the Early Attention Teams (EAP) so that they can take it to the schools and make them a place of reference for families to make a reasonable use of screens in the family environment.

This programme has its roots in different experiences of early care professionals, who in recent years, aggravated by the pandemic, have detected children with delayed development: delay in the appearance of speech, lack of imitation, immaturity in relationships and, above all, difficulties in maintaining attention on oneself, play…. In this respect, it has been observed that some families lack information about the risks for children who spend a lot of time in front of screens and the repercussions this can have on their development. Moreover, with the years of the pandemic, this problem has been aggravated by the use and abuse of screens in homes on the islands.

In the Manacor area, a 0 to 3 Commission, made up of professionals from the health, educational and social sectors, agreed on the seriousness of screen abuse. For this reason, the Manacor Town Council’s Department of Education initiated a campaign that was managed by the Manacor 0-3 Childhood Association. This year, the Regional Ministry has taken up the issue by adopting the logo promoted by the Manacor Town Council and publishing the poster presented with health and educational recommendations.

Specific training on the dangers of screens and their alternatives

The Institute for Early Childhood Education (IEPI) offered specific training aimed at EAP professionals, so that through their work in schools they can pass it on to the cloisters and the families of the children who attend.

Among other things, the training included content such as why exposure to screens harms the development of children aged 0-6, how children learn and the presentation of educational alternatives.

This is one of the many actions that are being carried out in different areas to focus on this problem. This year, the XIII Jornades d’Educació Infantil de Menorca: “Infància i pantalla” (“Childhood and screens”) has also been dedicated to this subject.

With a view to the next academic year, it is proposed that this subject be included in the training plans aimed at the management and teaching staff of first cycle educational centres, within the framework of the development of the new curricula.