London - Children should not be allowed to use phones and iPads before school, an expert has warned.
Staring at a screen at breakfast time can damage their concentration in class, clinical psychologist Linda Blair said.
She advised parents to discourage the use of hi-tech devices before school to ensure pupils stay alert. She also called for a ban on homework that needs to be done on computers.
That is because it is contributing to children becoming tired and unfocused, Blair argued.
She told the Cheltenham Science Festival: “It makes me mad because a lot of schools are doing screen homework. It’s so stupid! I wish they wouldn’t do that.”
The blue light emitted from computer screens has been shown to push down the levels of melatonin, a chemical produced by the body that helps us have a restful sleep. And screen use before school can raise levels of the stress hormone cortisol which make it harder to concentrate, she said.
Discouraging screen use among young people “was not a popular move”, she admitted.
“But when they try it they can be transformed. I encourage people to try it for a couple of days.”
Blair said that children coming to her clinic with suspected Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder would generally see some improvement if they practised “screen management”. She accepted that it is difficult, especially with teenagers, to get children to agree.
“Their job description is to defy you,” she said. She advised that parents may have success if they set an example and limit their own use. “You have to stay off screens yourself,” she said. “And nobody wants to do that.”
She criticised schools over screen homework while answering a question from a mother on how to restrict her children’s access to screens – phones, computers and games consoles. Blair, author of The Key To Calm, said screen use was “one factor among many”. But families had to be disciplined about the use of screens, with parents being good role models, she said.
“Try and establish one point in the day where the family focuses on each other. That used to be called ‘dinner’! All screens off and you actually talk to each other.
“They will moan but ten years from now they will remember it and thank you. You have to set limits. You can’t ban these things. Kids have got to know how to manage their screens and be in control. Screens should be off half an hour before bedtime and no screens before school, which admittedly is hard to do.”
Many experts in child health recommend against youngsters having a TV or computer in their bedroom to reduce screen exposure before bedtime.
Research in 2013 found that screen time of more than four hours a day resulted in a 49 percent greater risk of taking longer than an hour to go to sleep.
In particular, using a computer, smartphone or MP3 player in the hour before bedtime significantly delayed the onset of sleep, the Norwegian study of 16 to 19-year-olds found.
In 2010, research from the University of Bristol advocated that parents limit their children’s use of screens to two hours a day.
The study found that children who used screens more heavily were more likely than those who took regular exercise to agree with statements such as “I am unhappy”.
Daily Mail