"Please Delay Showing Smart Devices as Much as Possible for Child Development"

Seoul City Launches Campaign Since May to Prevent Smart Device Overdependence in Infants and Toddlers
Emphasizes Limiting Smart Device Exposure and Direct Interaction with Caregivers for Healthy Development

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] It has been found that families and daycare centers participating in the campaign to prevent excessive dependence on smart devices among infants and toddlers, which Seoul City has been conducting since last May, have shown positive changes.

According to Seoul City on the 6th, the city previously held a special lecture titled "Developmental Support for Infants and Toddlers in the COVID-19 Era" by pediatric psychiatrist Professor Shin Euijin for parents of infants and toddlers and childcare workers. In cooperation with the Seoul City Daycare Center Association, the city has been continuously promoting the "Infant and Toddler Smart Device Overdependence Prevention Campaign" every month on the 10th through the daycare center’s family newsletter app.

Caregivers participating in the campaign reported that by distancing themselves from smart devices and increasing conversations and playtime with their children, the children’s moods noticeably improved and family bonds deepened. Caregivers and children also established rules for smart device use together, helping the children develop proper lifestyle habits.

Additionally, daycare centers are helping children become familiar with smart technology while teaching them healthy ways to use it. Suhocheonsa Daycare Center in Gwangjin-gu (Director: Jo Hyesook) is providing programs where children can experience and interact with AI technology through Seoul City’s “Alpha Mini” AI robot rental project. In the 5-year-old class at Magok 14 I Madang Daycare Center in Gangseo-gu (Director: Shim Jina), children learn coding concepts using tablet PCs and develop self-control by setting agreements on smart device usage together.

Since COVID-19, outdoor activities have been limited and parental caregiving burdens have increased, leading to more cases of infants and toddlers watching videos on smart devices. Excessive dependence on smart devices in infants and toddlers can affect brain development, raising concerns among experts.

Professor Shin Euijin, a pediatric psychiatrist at Yonsei University Severance Hospital, warned, “Videos accessed through smart devices stimulate only specific parts of the brain, and prolonged exposure to high levels of stimulation may prevent infants’ brains from developing evenly.” Professor Shin emphasized the importance of interaction and emotional bonding around the age of three, when synapses connecting brain nerve cells increase explosively. He suggested, “The amount of time caregivers spend with children is important, but it is even more important how deeply and broadly emotional exchanges occur during that time,” and proposed creating a healthy family culture.

Recently, Seoul City signed a business agreement with the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry to create a healthy developmental environment for infants and toddlers. It is making multifaceted efforts, including conducting a developmental status survey of 600 infants and toddlers nationwide who experienced the COVID-19 period for the first time in the country. The developmental status survey uses both online and offline channels to assess the language, communication, emotional, and social development of 600 infants and toddlers residing in Seoul. Seoul City plans to prepare so that the survey leads to practical support for promoting infant and toddler development and to create a new childcare paradigm evolving in line with the post-COVID-19 era.

Kim Seonsun, Director of the Seoul City Women and Family Policy Office, said, “At a time when developmental delays in infants and toddlers are a concern due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, childcare and parenting guidelines that consider children’s brain development are especially necessary,” and urged, “We ask families raising infants and toddlers in Seoul, especially parents, to actively participate in the campaign to prevent excessive dependence on smart devices so that Seoul’s children can grow up healthy in both body and mind.”