Sweden joins countries seeking to end screen time for children under 2

Sweden says children under the age of 2 should not be exposed to any digital screens. The recommendations, issued by the Scandinavian country’s public health agency earlier this month as a new school year begins, are the latest in a worldwide effort to limit screen time for young children. The coronavirus lockdowns exacerbated the problem as schools turned to Zoom for distance-learning and parents relied on TV shows and movies to keep their children occupied while they worked from home.

Sweden suggests that toddlers should not have any exposure to digital screens, including television. The recommendations ease slightly as the children age: From 2 to 5 years old, they should have a maximum of one hour a day in front of a screen, while for youngsters aged 6 to 12 it's two hours. Teenagers should have no more than three hours of screen time a day.

Sweden's suggestions came after research found that children reported negative effects like poorer sleep, depression and limited physical activity with high use of digital devices.

Similar recommendations have come out of other countries as well, including the United States, Ireland, Canada, Australia and France.

France has the strictest suggestions so far, saying children under 3 should not have any time in front of screens. The recommendation comes from a report published in April that was commissioned by President Emmanuel Macron.

Ireland and the U.S. say babies and toddlers can engage in video calls with family and friends — though Canada, Australia and Sweden do not make such distinctions.

Cellphone bans are already in place at many schools across the United States. Cellphone pouches, lockers and bins have grown in popularity to help carry out the prohibitions.

But the bans aren’t always enforced, and students often find ways to bend the rules, like hiding phones on their laps. Some parents have expressed concerns that bans could cut them off from their kids if there is an emergency, such as a school shooting.

But while the bans are gaining traction, many experts say they’re not enough. They argue for alternative stimulation: steering students outdoors or toward extracurricular activities to fill time they might otherwise spend alone online. And students need outlets, they say, to speak about taboo topics without fear of being “ canceled ” on social media.

A 2023 UNESCO report says while digital technology can augment education — through new learning environments and expanded connections and collaboration — it comes at a cost to socialization and real-life learning. Negative effects on physical and mental health also play a role.

The report additionally noted insufficient regulations around unauthorized use of personal data for commercial purposes, as well as the spread of misinformation and hate speech online.

“Such challenges may cancel out any benefits,” the UNESCO authors wrote.

And a study published last year in JAMA Pediatrics researched a potential link between screen time for young children and developmental delays.

“In this study, greater screen time for children aged 1 year was associated with developmental delays in communication and problem-solving at ages 2 and 4 years,” the study said.

Policymakers and children’s advocates are growing increasingly concerned with teens’ relationships with their phones and social media.

Last fall, dozens of U.S. states, including California and New York, sued Instagram and Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc. for harming young people and contributing to the youth mental health crisis by knowingly and deliberately designing features that addict children.

In January, the CEOs of Meta, TikTok, X and other social media companies went before the Senate Judiciary Committee to testify about their platforms’ harms to young people.

Now Sweden's public health agency has called for tech companies to change their algorithms so children do not get stuck doom-scrolling for hours or watching harmful content.

FILE - A 11-year-old boy plays with his father's phone outside school in Barcelona, Spain, Monday, June 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File)

LONDON (AP) — The father of a 10-year-old girl found dead in her home in England fled to Pakistan and called U.K. police from there to say he had killed her, a jury heard Monday.

Urfan Sharif, 42, is on trial at London's Central Criminal Court accused of Sara Sharif's murder alongside his partner, Beinash Batool, and brother, Faisal Malik.

Opening the trial, prosecutor William Emlyn Jones said all three defendants had played a part in a “campaign of abuse” against Sara in the weeks leading to her death.

Police found Sara's body under a blanket in a bunk bed at her home in Woking, southwest of London, on Aug. 10, 2023, with dozens of injuries including extensive bruising, burns and fractures. A post-mortem examination concluded she died of unnatural causes.

Emlyn Jones said the discovery was made after her father called the police from Pakistan, saying: “I’ve killed my daughter. I legally punished her, and she died.” He also told the phone operator it wasn't his intention to kill her but he had “beat her up too much," the prosecutor told jurors.

Urfan Sharif, Batool and Malik had left the U.K. for Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, on Aug. 9.

Police in Pakistan found the three suspects after an extensive search and put them on a flight to the U.K. They were arrested upon arrival at London’s Gatwick Airport and held in prison to await trial.

Emlyn Jones said all three had lived in the same house as Sara and that it was “inconceivable” that just one of them had acted alone.

He alleged that each of the suspects sought to point the finger at the others. He said Sharif's case was that Batool, Sara's stepmother, was responsible for the girl's death, and he made a false confession to protect her.

The jury heard a recording of a phone call made on the evening of Aug. 8, 2023, the day Sara was believed to have died, in which Batool could be heard asking about booking a flight to Islamabad for four adults and four children.

The trio deny murder and causing or allowing the death of a child.

The trial is expected to continue until December.

FILE - This court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook shows Sara Sharif's father Urfan Sharif, right, and her uncle Faisal Malik appearing via video-link, from Belmarsh prison, at the Old Bailey in London, Dec. 14, 2023 as three members of her family have pleaded not guilty to her murder. (Elizabeth Cook/PA via AP, file)