BENGALURU: “Our children do what we do, not what we (merely) say,” said author and scientist Sujata Kelkar Shetty on Sunday, in a panel discussion on ‘Resilient Teen Parenting in the Digital Age’ at the Manotsava National Mental Health Festival on Sunday. She shared the stage with Prof Deepti Navratna of the National Institute of Advanced Studies and Angad Singh Malik, an impact strategist at Eight Goals One Foundation, with the session being moderated by Chitra Iyer of Space2Grow.
The panel discussion aimed at bridging the gap between the teen and parental psyches, which was posited as one of the key determinants in teenagers’ social isolation post the Covid-19 pandemic. “The brain of a child is like a ‘Ferrari’ with bicycle breaks. Their frontal lobes are developing, and they process information at a rapid pace. They feel a lot,” said Kelkar.
Navratna focused on social media and the rise of doomscrolling, saying, “When a teen is constantly on the phone, their brains constantly produce dopamine. The brain stays in a high arousal state; in this state, there is not enough room for narrative processing.”
Perhaps, the most interesting perspective was brought forth by Malik, who stood to destigmatise the realm of video games as something monolithically detrimental to the mental wellbeing of teens. “Video games are a broad spectrum, from the puzzles you solve on your phone, to AAA games played on consoles. My advice to parents would be to let go of their preconceived notions about video games as inherently violent or destructive. Try to think of them from the lens of your kids,” he said. Malik also highlighted the need to genuinely contribute to children’s interests and engage with them on their levels, instead of a dogmatic approach.