Although we were forced to accept the pandemic-induced dependency of our children on mobile phones for educational purposes, it’s equally true that every parent is seriously worried about the increasing amount of time our children are spending with mobiles.
A recent survey by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights reveals that mobile addiction is taking a serious toll on our children. With schools back to regular classes, it is high time parents and teachers wean away children from mobiles to good old active schooling along with physical and social activities.
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Internet and mobile addiction are becoming the silent killer of active physical and social activities and a normal social life amongst our children. Children are becoming prone to physical ailments arising out of eye strain, poor posture and lack of physical activity. While most parents unwittingly believe that their children are studying, the truth is that majority of them are spending more and more time on social media sites, entertainment apps, etc.
Giving up conventional methods of learning habits was a necessity in pandemic times but it cannot be continued forever. A healthy balance has to be struck between Online Learning and Conventional learning to get the benefits of both while ensuring the healthy mental and emotional development of our children.
Today’s children are prone to repeated Feelings of Loneliness and Insecurity due to over-dependence on digital life, lack of good old personal interactions, and reduced parental controls in this fast-changing world. Their 24×7 digital life leads to sleep deprivation, low musculoskeletal health, reduced immunity, etc. The digital world is also causing attention deficit, lack of social skills, dietary issues, psychological issues, inability to handle relationships, and pressures of life. This also results in short memory, dependence on Internet/Google for even basic information, exposure to unhealthy, unsolicited, and adverse content including pornography, etc. All this affects the healthy growth of our children as responsible citizens of the future.
We should stop treating smartphones as rewards for children. Let them know that it’s just a gadget to tide over pandemic restrictions on regular schooling. Parents must take initiative to open up normal channels of communication, have mobile-free hours at home, stop mobile usage half an hour before sleeping etc.
Switching over from Online Schooling and taking away our children from the highly infectious Digital Life is not going to be easy but the solution lies in making conscious efforts to bring our kids back to the real physical life from their Internet lives and help them to strike a balance between the real world and digital world.
Digital Detoxification of our children is an urgent necessity so it’s time we initiate our best efforts before the Internet eventually ends up owning the very existence of our children.
(Rohan Khaunte is Minister for Tourism and IT, Goa)
