NEW DELHI: Darshil Gupta (name changed), a Class 12 student attended school for three days after it reopened last month. On Day 4, he decided to stay at home and continue with the virtual learning via his
mobile phone.
“We are seeing more and more such cases at AIIMS, where parents have approached us saying that their children don’t want to return to the classrooms. The issue was not that they have to visit school physically or spend time out of home but the concern was not to remain available virtually and not using mobile phones,” said Dr Yatan Balhara, Additional Professor, Psychiatry, AIIMS to this correspondent.
“There have been instances when I took away my mobile phone from my son and he became so violent that he went to the washroom and flushed out random things. My son otherwise has a very polite nature. When it happened the first time, I ignored it. Now, he shows aggression whenever we try to keep him away from using mobile phones,” said an official from the facility, who has raised the issue with the department.
Over the one and half years, the children and adolescents have spent excess time on a mobile phone for academic purposes. Also, with lack of physical interaction and no scope to meet friends outside, they have tended to develop a world virtually, believes Dr Balhara.
“It is where they share their emotions, enjoy talking or using social media applications. The level of addiction has suddenly jumped up, and has led to high dependency on the gadget. If the device is taken away, they become very aggressive and violent. They are finding it very difficult to give up using phones. Now when physical classes are resuming they are skeptical of losing out the life they were living virtually. The children or adolescents mostly have developed close bonds with people over social media and they have tend to grow fondness,” noted Dr Balhara.
Dr Balhara suggested that instead of taking harsh measures, there is a need to understand the children’s perspective as well. “Sudden habitual change will make them angry. So the change will have to brought in slowly, and parents should not try to implement a sudden routine change,” he noted.
Prime reason
The lack of physical interaction and no scope to meet friends outside, school-going children have tended to develop a world virtually, believes Dr Yatan Balhatra