The suspense lasted until the end.
The municipal charter for the proper use of screens in Seine-Port (Seine-et-Marne) was voted on this Saturday by 146 “yes” against 126 “no”.
A narrow victory in this locality of 2000 souls which therefore mobilized 272 voters.
“I expected a bigger gap.
It's so intrusive.
People feel like we're meddling in their lives.
I do not want that !
But there is a public health problem.
We have to help them,” reacts the mayor, Vincent Paul-Petit (LR).
This is the first time that a community has taken action against the overexposure of young people to screens.
The elected official will issue an order prohibiting the use of smartphones in front of schools, in businesses, while walking in the street and when residents are together in a public or associative space.
But no legally possible sanction in the event of non-compliance with the text.
A simple mobile for future college students
To protect children in their homes, the charter encourages parents to ban all screens (television, smartphone, tablet and games console) in the morning, at the table, in the evening before going to bed and in the bedroom.
In return, the municipality will create a sports area and a film club for children and teenagers.
It will offer a simple phone to future middle school students if their parents do not buy them a smartphone until high school.
Seine-Port, February 3, 2024. Aged 18, Lenka and Maxence voted against the charter “because there is nothing in Seine-Port for young people”.
According to them, "we must make parents responsible because children copy their parents' actions!"
In Seine-Port, the subject split.
The opponents let go.
“No cell phones in public spaces?
But there is nothing in Seine-Port for young people!, say Maxence and Lenka, 18 years old.
It is better to make parents responsible because children copy their actions.
» The young girl reads books on her smartphone when she takes her dog out.
“It is not up to the mayor to intervene, his decree has no value,” says José, a lawyer.
The ban on businesses irritates Delphine.
“And when we call to find out how many chopsticks we need?
» Same on the terrace: “Without my smartphone I would be alone as hell… Watching the cars go by!
» For Valérie and Olivier, “this concerns the private sphere.
To use it or not in businesses is a question of education.”
Seine-Port, February 3, 2024. A fan of smartphones in public spaces, Delphine voted against, believing that “it is in the family environment that we must resolve” the question of smartphone use.
The defenders of the charter are convinced.
“Children are being lobotomized by their smartphone which cuts them off from reality, from the link with their family,” alarms Stéphanie.
“If the rules are the same for everyone in Seine-Port, it will be easier for parents.
Their child won't ask Why
can others do it and not me?
This charter is an additional incentive,” greets a dad.
Director of a nursery school in another Seine-et-Marnaise commune, Jeanne voted “200%” yes.
“I see the ravages of screens among 3-year-olds.
Some people don't know how to use their fingers, stack cubes, or pull down their pants to pee.
They don't know how to say
pee
, but
telly
!
All this due to a lack of communication with parents.
In front of a screen, their children are calm.
But nothing is built in their brain and their apprehension of what surrounds them!
»
Aged 65, Anne also voted for.
“I was responding to a text message while walking down the street and I didn’t see the sidewalk.
I broke an ankle, a knee, and my nose!
»