Marie Nussbaum

Choosing Screens, Rethinking Use

Restoring subjective time and creative alternatives

Choosing how we use screens—and favoring other activities—benefits both physical and psychological health. When screen use becomes excessive or unaccompanied, it can affect overall well-being: weight gain, sleep disturbances, agitation, inhibition, mental fatigue, and a weakened connection to oneself and others. The goal isn’t to ban screens, but to consider their place in daily life, their function, their rhythm, and the alternatives we can offer.

A teenager calling a friend and talking, or searching for homework information online, engages valuable cognitive and relational functions. That’s not the same as spending hours alone on video games or endlessly scrolling through random content. Connection isn’t built through texts—it’s built through exchanged words, shared silences, and eye contact. Watching a show together as a family, commenting on it, laughing or debating, has very different effects than watching short videos alone.

Official guidelines and attention neuroscience

Official guidelines in France recommend screen time be adapted to age: no screens before age 3, very limited use before age 6, and active guidance through adolescence. It’s not about prohibition, but about choosing, guiding, commenting, and sharing. Reading a text—even on a screen—engages symbolic thinking and memory. Watching a video without discussion or reformulation leaves the brain in a passive state, without elaboration.

The YouTube video “The Habit That FORCES Your Brain To STOP Consuming” highlights this phenomenon: the brain, overstimulated by passive content, loses its ability to produce, connect, and dream. The author proposes a simple habit—reflective output—where one reformulates what was learned in their own words, slows the flow, and transforms consumption into creation. This practice activates deep cognitive and psychological processes: it forces us to think, symbolize, and connect to ourselves.

Neuroscience research, notably by Oppezzo and Schwartz at Stanford (2014), shows that walking boosts creativity by activating the brain’s default mode network, which supports introspective thought and daydreaming. This network is inhibited by intense external stimulation. Similarly, playing an instrument, listening to the radio, reading slowly, or jotting down an idea on a post-it—these activities reintroduce subjective time and the ability to connect, think, and create.

Concrete alternatives and psychological development

A walk after school, baking a cake together, free play without screens, listening to music or radio, printed or drawn manual activities. Playing board games like CodeNames, card games, or hide-and-seek for younger children. For adults, it’s conversing with someone, cooking dinner, gazing at the sky, playing an instrument, listening to the radio, or going for a walk. These simple gestures restore rhythm, connection, embodiment, and meaning. They also benefit adults by reducing anxiety, supporting emotional regulation, improving focus, and fostering a sense of inner coherence.

From a psychological development perspective, these activities engage fine motor skills, coordination, symbolic thinking, and concentration. They help children build representations, delay gratification, tolerate frustration, and anchor themselves in the present—similar to the effects of meditative practice. Walking is a form of meditation. Reading a story to a child invites presence, slowness, and shared reverie.

Studies on meditation in children and adolescents, such as a meta-analysis of 66 studies involving over 20,000 participants, and the French study by Julia David and Lindsay Valéro on emotional regulation through mindfulness, show positive effects on attention, executive functions, stress reduction, and academic performance. The European APEX program also demonstrated the benefits of meditation on school success, concentration, and overall well-being.

Expert voices and clinical guidelines

Neuropsychiatrist Boris Cyrulnik emphasizes the importance of protecting young children from early screen exposure. He recommends no screens at all before age 3—a critical period for brain development. According to him, sensory and emotional interactions are essential for building cognitive, emotional, and social skills.

Psychiatrist Serge Tisseron, PhD in psychology, developed the 3-6-9-12 guidelines for digital education. He stresses the importance of guidance, content selection, and screen time regulation. He reminds us that it’s not just about how long we spend on screens, but what we do, with whom, and how.

Child psychiatrists like Dr. Nicolas Neveux warn that overexposure to screens can worsen sleep disorders, language delays, attention issues, and symptoms of anxiety or depression. They advocate for family support, regulated use, and the reintroduction of play, movement, and conversation.

Boredom as creative space

Boredom, often feared, is actually a gateway to creativity. It allows individuals to confront themselves, mobilize internal resources, dream, and invent. The instant pleasure offered by screens—especially short videos—activates the brain’s dopamine circuit without engaging symbolic pathways. It gives pleasure but doesn’t build thought. It doesn’t support memory, focus, or connection.

What I sometimes suggest to families is not to ban screens, but to reintroduce spaces of emptiness, slowness, and movement. These are invitations to reconnect with oneself and the world, to rehabilitate boredom as a space for creation, and to restore the body’s role in the development of thought.

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