In today’s technological era, our system may boast about the ever-increasing number of new mobile phone holders, that in the 21st century we are making everything possible at our fingertips, but perhaps by being engrossed in technology, we are forgetting that they are destroying the indelible ancient heritage. At the same time, children and youth are being misled and their lives are being pushed into the lap of time. This is because, at the age when they are playing field games, listening to stories of brave men and reading books, our young children have fallen deeply in the clutches of online games.
In today’s materialistic era, parents are short of time, due to which they give mobile phones to children at an age when they should have toys in their hands and parents’ love on their heads. This is really very unfortunate.
In fact, the increasing inclination of youth and children towards online games is not just a problem of India. In the last few years, a different kind of craze for this has developed among children all over the world. Which is now taking the form of addiction somewhere. If there is an addiction to anything, if it becomes too much, then its harm is also terrible. Many studies show that this addiction is having a negative impact on the physical and mental health of children. Despite this, its situation in India is not hidden from us. In our country, even a two-year-old child is given a mobile phone. And he grows up watching the mobile with great interest.
We can assess where India stands in this matter from the figures that in the year 2022, the online gaming market in India was worth more than Rs 1.5 billion. So it is expected to reach 5 billion by 2025. While in the year 2020, the number of its users was 40 percent (80 million), in 2021 this number increased to 50 percent (95 million). According to the ‘FICCI’ report, an increase of 26 percent has been recorded in the revenue of ‘transaction based games’ in India. And this number is poised to increase even further.
It is noteworthy that in the year 2017, more than 130 children died in Russia due to online games. So in India, about 100 children had embraced death. Children become so addicted to online games that they leave aside eating and drinking and remain engaged in them day and night. Due to which their sleep is also affected and the problem of irritability also increases. According to another figure, currently about thirty crore people play online games in India. And by 2028 this number is likely to increase to 55 crores. From this it can be estimated that a large population of India is busy only playing online games.
Talking about another figure, at present the online gaming market in the country is between seven to ten thousand crore rupees. Which is expected to reach Rs 29 thousand crore in the next one year. The magnitude of the situation can be understood only from these figures. But neither our system seems to be conscious about this nor do the family members have enough time to keep an eye on their children every moment to know what their child is doing on the mobile. Children’s brains are not developed enough to protect themselves from online game addiction. Therefore, it becomes the responsibility of the parents and the government to take steps in the interest of the children, but there seems to be a lack of efforts in this direction also.
It is noteworthy that the ‘World Health Organization’ has also considered addiction to playing online games (which has been named gaming disorder) as a mental illness. According to the World Health Organization, online gaming can be as addictive as ‘cocaine’ and ‘gambling’. This problem has become even more acute after the Corona period. During the time of Corona, children’s participation in online gaming has increased by 41 percent. Also, the addiction to online games has been seen more among the children of nuclear families. It is also a bitter truth that children are becoming aggressive and violent by getting involved in online games. Sometimes this game also pushes them towards depression. In the past years, many children have lost their lives in India due to games like ‘Blue Whale’. It is also a worrying situation that online games are running rampant in our country without any terms and conditions.
When a child plays mobile and computer games continuously for hours, it has serious side effects on his eyes and other body parts. However, the disconnection of our society from the roots of the joint family is also the cause of many problems. And we cannot blame the government for this. Nevertheless, curbing online games is the need of the hour and should be taken seriously. If we look at it, mobile has probably become as important in life as breathing. Without which we cannot live. But it has also harmed us to a great extent. At the top of these are increasing obesity and weak mental health. However, mobile has also made our life easier to some extent. If you want to talk to someone or want to meet someone, then along with the facility of video call, children’s classes are also being held on the phone these days.
There are some children who get addicted to the phone since childhood. Many times parents also give the lure of mobile because they are busy or to feed the child. This greed soon becomes an ‘addiction’ in them. Due to which the development of the child is adversely affected. Children who are exposed to mobile screens at an early age and who spend more time on mobile devices have a higher risk of developing behavioural problems like depression and anxiety which is quite worrying.
