何時應限制兒童使用電子設備

Parents should ban electronic media during mealtimes and after bedtime as part of a comprehensive 'family media use plan, ' according to new recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

美國兒科學會(American Academy of Pediatrics)提出的新建議，作爲一項綜合性的“家庭媒介使用計劃”的一部分，家長應該禁止孩子在就餐時和就寢後使用電子媒介。

The influential new guidelines are being spurred by a growing recognition of kids' nearly round-the-clock media consumption, which includes everything from television to texting and social media.

之所以會提出這些頗具影響的新建議，是因爲人們越來越認識到孩子會連軸轉地使用電子媒介，包括從看電視到收發手機短信再到登陸社交媒體等各種活動。

'Excessive media use is associated with obesity, poor school performance, aggression and lack of sleep, ' said Marjorie Hogan, co-author of the new policy and a pediatrician.

上述新政策的作者之一、兒科醫生霍根(Marjorie Hogan)說，過度使用電子媒介通常與肥胖、學業不佳、具有攻擊性和睡眠不足有關。

Families should have a no-device rule during meals and after bedtime, the guidelines say. Parents should also set family rules covering the use of the Internet and social media and cellphones and texting, including, perhaps, which sites can be visited, who can be called and giving parental access to Facebook accounts. The policy also reiterated the AAP's existing recommendations: Kids should limit the amount of screen time for entertainment to less than two hours per day; children younger than 2 shouldn't have any TV or Internet exposure. Also, televisions and Internet-accessible devices should be kept out of kids' bedrooms.

上述建議說，家庭應該制定一個就餐時和就寢後不得使用電子媒介的規定。家長們還應該就互聯網、社交媒體和手機的使用以及收發短信等事項定下家庭規定，比如包括可以訪問哪些網站，可以給哪些人打電話，允許家長登陸孩子的Facebook賬戶。上述建議還重申了美國兒科學會現有的建議：孩子應該將使用電子設備進行娛樂的時間限制在每天兩小時以內；兩歲以下的兒童不應看電視或上網。此外，電視和可上網設備不應放在孩子的臥室裏。

Doctors say parents need to abide by the family rules, too, to model healthy behavior. That, some say, may be the toughest part. 'If you go to any restaurant, Family 3.0 is Mom and Dad are on their devices and the kids are on theirs, ' says Donald L. Shifrin, a pediatrician in Bellevue, Wash., and an AAP spokesman. 'Who is talking to each other?'

醫生們說，家長也需要遵守這些家庭規定，以便爲孩子樹立良好的榜樣。一些人說，身教可能是最困難的部分。華盛頓貝爾維的兒科醫生、美國兒科學會發言人希夫林(Donald L. Shifrin)說，如果你去任何一家餐館，都會發現家庭3.0版是爸媽和孩子在各自使用電子設備。有誰相互聊聊天嗎？

Children ages 8 to 18 spent an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes a day consuming media for fun, including TV, music, videogames and other content in 2009, according to a 2010 report from the Kaiser Family Foundation. The report was based on a survey of 2, 002 third- through 12th-graders, 702 of whom completed a seven-day media use diary. That was up about an hour and 17 minutes a day from five years earlier. About two-thirds of 8- to 18-year-olds said they had no rules on the amount of time they spent watching TV, playing videogames or using the computer, the Kaiser report found.

據凱撒家庭基金會(Kaiser Family Foundation) 2010年發佈的一份報告，2009年，八至18歲的兒童每天平均花在玩電子設備上的時間是七小時38分鐘，其中包括看電視、聽音樂、玩電子遊戲和其他內容。該報告是根據一項對2,002名三到12年級的學生所進行的調查得出的，其中有702人完成了一項爲期七天的媒介使用日記。上述時長較五年前多了約一小時17分鐘。凱撒家庭基金會的報告發現，八至18歲的受訪者中約有三分之二的人說，他們每天看電視、玩電子遊戲和使用電腦的時間沒有規定。

Use of mobile devices by young kids has soared. A new report from Common Sense Media, a child-advocacy group based in San Francisco, found that 17% of children 8 and younger use mobile devices daily, up from 8% in 2011.

小孩子使用移動設備的情況激增。舊金山兒童維權組織常識媒體(Common Sense Media)的一項新出爐的報告顯示，八歲及以下的兒童中有17%每天使用移動設備，高於2011年的8%。