The digital world affects people, especially children, who are exposed to it from an early age. This consumption, excessive at times, and its effects on children’s development are of growing concern to pediatric authorities and the public sector. However, few studies on digital use among children aged 3 to 11 have been conducted in priority education networks in France.

The aim of this study is to investigate screen exposure by elementary school children and its evolution with age in a disadvantaged socioeconomic context.

Data on family structure and socio-professional category were collected from parents on paper. Quantitative data were collected from 366 children (divided into 3 cycles: aged 3–6, 6–9, and 9–12), in a school group located in a priority education network.

Among the 366 children interviewed, 85.2 % reported using screens daily, particularly after school in the evening. This proportion was quite stable across school cycles, ranging from 81 % to 88 %. Close to 50 % of children in Cycles 1 and 2 have their own screen, a proportion that rises to 79.1 % in Cycle 3 ( p < .0001). Among significant developments across cycles, we observed an increase in smartphone ownership (from 6.6 % to 57.1 %, p < .0001). Watching television during meals was already high in Cycle 1 (77.9 %) and did not significantly change across cycles, but appeared significantly more in single-parent than in two-parent families ( p = .006).

We observed that the new uses in Cycle 2 is linked to children’s autonomy, whereas it is linked to the ownership of a digital device in Cycle 3. The type of digital device children own at each cycle reflected both the intrinsically nomadic nature of screens and their fun dimension. Exposure to screens at an early age is steadily increasing, exceeding official recommendations, particularly in priority education networks.