KOCHI: “Social media is doing harm to our kids and I’m calling time on it,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, announcing his government’s decision to conceive a law that will make it illegal for children under 16 to access social media.
The move was criticised as much as it was hailed. However, everyone agrees that unregulated access to the online realm that children enjoy today is indeed a matter of concern.
Just months earlier, the American Psychological Association issued a health advisory on social media use in adolescence. It called for warning labels to be displayed on social media platforms for visitors to tackle the “emergency mental health crisis” in the country.
Kerala is not immune to this epidemic. Parents and teachers, in their silos, have come up with various strategies to curb digital use among children.
Georgian Thomas, a young mother from Kochi, limits the time her ten-year-old spends on gadgets. “Access to the internet is allowed only for doing homework,” she says.
While these restrictions stand, Georgian also ensures that her child has the freedom to pursue non-digital activities — “like hanging out with friends, reading, or playing indoor games”. “It is possible because we live in an apartment and there are many children of his age around. Otherwise, it’s a struggle,” she adds.
But unlike Georgian, not every parent can or is tech-savvy enough to monitor their ward’s digital footprint or restrict its use. The fallouts of this are visible already.
“Children today have reduced attention span. They are restless and have weak interpersonal skills,” says Anoop John, a school teacher. “What we are seeing lately is even more worrying.”
Recently, John pulled up an 8th-grader for using an iPhone in class. “Apparently, a family member had gifted it to him and the student uses it as he pleases.”
Across social media platforms like YouTube and Instagram, and a clutch of games, the student has made friends of all ages online — from South Korea and the US to Alappuzha. Invariably, this has exposed him to many things not suitable for his age.
“Naturally, he became addicted.”
Lack of sleep was the obvious first sign. Though parents and teachers intervened, the student couldn’t control his phone usage, Anoop recalls.
Things took a bad turn when he sneaked a bottle of liquor into school. When caught and teachers rummaged though his phone, they found messages he had sent to girl students.
“They were very inappropriate and the least expected from a student his age,” the teacher says.
However, his parents were scared to scold him, fearing that he would take reckless and drastic steps. Instead, they sought the help of his teachers. “We spoke to him, of course. But taking care to not show anger or scold him,” Anoop adds.
Digital addiction among children has become more prevalent during and after the Covid pandemic. “But we don’t have a system to address this issue effectively or counter it. Also, youngsters are very tech-savvy. They know how to get around most obstacles their parents or teachers place to restrict their internet use,” Anoop adds.
According to Arun B Nair, a professor of psychiatry, behavioural addiction among children is something the world at large is trying to tackle. The pleasure that children derive from gaming and social media is without parallels and so they seek them out again and again.
“Soon, they lose control and become dependent on similar stimuli all the time. The problems? Attention span deficiency, hyperactive disorder, difficulty processing information, depression and suicidal tendencies,” Arun says.
When these disorders are not addressed effectively and timely, they start self-medicating and eventually become addicted to synthetic drugs.
“An appropriate solution for this is responsible digital use. But parents, burdened by work and a slew of household chores, are often ill-equipped to handle it. This is likely why Australia is mulling an outright social media ban,” Arun says.
He believes that such a ban would help youngsters rekindle personal interactions, “crucial for their social and emotional development. Not being on social media is likely not going to affect them as much as the underdevelopment of these facets,” the doctor says.
Indeed, if anything, being online is an invitation to danger as adults can take advantage of unassuming children.
“One of my patients, a studious 15-year-old, was groomed by a 22-year-old she met on social media. Initially, it was a friendship based on mutual interests. Soon, it developed into a romantic relationship. The man eventually started to enforce rules, which affected her academically. Later, he began asking for money,” Arun recalls.
However, not realising that she was being taken advantage of, the girl gave money to the youth. As money came in, the messages from his end dwindled, prompting the girl to visit his house. There, she learned that the man she ‘loved’ was one with several girlfriends and many vices.
“She fell into depression and even attempted suicide. She lacked a support system at home. Her parents were always fighting with each other. As she was an introvert, she didn’t have many friends either. This made her vulnerable and an easy prey in the digital world,” Arun shares.
It’s not just the online world. Now, even traditional movie-watching experience is not without its pitfalls, argues psychiatrist Dr C J John.
“Young children don’t have the critical thinking ability or media literacy to differentiate adult content. They become susceptible to what they watch. Some may even try to emulate it,” he warns.
A movie with a U/A certificate means parents should explain the contents and the nuances to the child. “But does that happen?” Dr John asks. He also puts forward another question — Do children need to watch such explicit scenes?
“It’s becoming part and parcel of movies today. In a way, we are legitimising that children can watch these kinds of content,” the doctor says.
In any case, parents are not yet ready to speak up on such matters to their wards. It was only recently that Vinu V S, a parent of two from Thiruvananthapuram, started to pay attention to the age-appropriateness of movies.
“Some movies, though promoted as family-friendly, come with scenes not suitable for children. There are at least content warnings on OTT platforms,” Vinu says.
Sangeetha S, a school teacher from Alappuzha, has also noticed how digital has become a vital part of a student’s world. “Even outside of it, children are discussing what they watched on social media. The digital world has, no doubt, penetrated the physical.”
According to her, what’s paramount is “a system whereby students can learn the nuances and the appropriateness of what they are consuming.
Without it,” she warns, “we are rushing headlong into a digital epidemic.”