'A time bomb for kids': a French photographer's exploration of screen culture

Isabelle Martinetti

23 September 2024 at 8:54 am·2-min read

Recent research shows that children - and their parents - are spending more and more time in front of screens: 36 hours a week on average in France. Photographer Jérôme Gence's latest project "The screen generation" explores the use of devices and the consequences.

For three years, photojournalist Jérôme Gence, who is also a freelance data analyst, focused on the use of screens by children in France and in Nepal and India.

He visited children and parents' in their homes, met a psychologist treating addiction to screens, went to a helpine center in charge of cyberbullying and to a hospital in Toulouse using digital technologies to reduce pain for hospitalised children.

His photos series "The screen generation" was shown at Visa pour l'image festival in Perpignan.

RFI: What is your project 'The screen generation' about?

Jérôme Gence: I try to explain the success of the digital world today for kids, and I think the answer is, in the real world, what are the values we're passing on to the next generation?

Another point is that we give so much power to only a few tech companies in the world, which belong to investors and those investors collect data.

And the main target, I will say is the kids and the next generation, because they're going to be the adults of tomorrow.

I think we are facing a time bomb for billions of kids and for the next generation.

RFI: What was the reaction of the parents when you asked them about their children using the screens, smartphones etc.?

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