New Delhi: The central government has reportedly set up a committee to regulate online gaming and identify a ministry to oversee and study global best practices and recommend a uniform regulation. It will also take into account the protection of gamers from user harms such as addiction. The panel is soon expected to submit a report.
But before that happens, over 40 per cent of urban Indian parents have admitted that their children, all aged between nine and 17, are addicted to videos, gaming and social media. According to a survey, most parents believe that excessive use of gadgets and easy access via online school activity during the pandemic are key reasons that their children are addicted to social media, videos and gaming. There is also much discontent over the minimum age to open a social media account, with 68 per cent of parents saying it should be raised from 13 to 15 years, as per the survey. The survey, conducted by the community social media platform LocalCircles, showed that 55 per cent of urban Indian parents said their children, who were aged between nine and 13, had access to a smartphone for all or most of the day, while 71 per cent said their children, aged between 13 and 17, have access to a smartphone for all or most of the day, News18 reported.
During the first two years of the pandemic, many children were mostly confined to their homes. Besides being engaged with online learning as schools were closed, one of their favourite pastimes became using gadgets such as smartphones, tablets or laptops to watch videos, play games online, and chat with peers. Studies show that the obsession with screen time increased during the pandemic. More troubling for urban Indian parents was allowing children as young as nine to use social media, including Facebook and Instagram, which they were not using previously.
The fear that their children were being exposed to undesirable content on the internet became all too real with many untoward incidents surfacing during this time period. To cite one reported incident, a 16-year-old boy shot his mother because she stopped him from playing online games like PubG.
Time spent by children in the age group 13-17 on social media, video and games on the internet per day
- 62% of urban Indian parents said children in this age group were spending three or more hours each day on social media, videos and games on the internet.
- 28% said “over six hours”, 34% said “three to six hours”, 16% said “one to three hours”, and 6% said “up to one hour”.
- According to the data, 4% of the parents indicated their teenage children are “spending hardly any time on social media, videos and games”, and 6% said “they are on mobile and other devices a lot but not sure how long” while 6% could not say.
- In response to this, 49% urban Indian parents said children in this age group are spending three hours or more each day on social media, videos and online games.
- 24% said “over six hours”, 25% said “three to six hours”, 20% said “one to three hours”, and 12% said “up to an hour”.
- Data indicated that 8% of respondents indicated that their children are “spending hardly any time on social media, videos and games”, 6% said “they are on mobile and other devices a lot but not sure how long” while 5% could not say.
The type of device children in the age group of 13-17 have access to all or most part of their day (outside of in-person school classes)
- 71% of urban Indian parents said all or most part of their day (outside of in-person school classes)
- 35% said “desktop/laptop”, 31% said “smartphone”, and 5% said “tablet and smartphone”.
- Data shows in 16% of cases “desktop/laptop, smartphone and tablet” are accessible to teenagers, while 4% did not give a clear response.
Do parents feel that children in the family in the age group of 13-17 are addicted to social media, videos, gaming on the internet?
- 44% of urban Indian parents said their children are absolutely addicted to social media, videos and gaming on the internet.
- 44% said “yes, absolutely”, 36% said “yes, partially” and 20% said “no”.
Many schools have often reported this to senior school parents in group sessions, where rehabilitation and even de-addiction was needed in some cases over the past year.
The type of device being used by children in the age group of 9-13, and do they have access for all or most part of the day (outside of in-person school classes)?
- 55% of urban Indian parents said their children in this age group had access to a smartphone for all or most part of the day (outside of in-person school classes).
- 13% said “desktop/laptop”, 11% said “tablet”, 23% said “smartphone”, 27% said “desktop/laptop, and smartphone”, 5% said “tablet and smartphone”, while 18% said “all three devices” and 3% could not say.
Whether children in the age group of 9-13 in your family are addicted to videos, chat and gaming on the internet
- 47% urban Indian parents said their children in this age group are absolutely addicted to social media, videos and gaming on the internet.
- 47% said “yes, absolutely” and another 40% claimed “yes, partially”, 11% said “no” and 2% could not say.
What are the primary reasons that children in the age group of 9-17 in your family are addicted to social media, gaming, videos?
- 28% said “us providing them access to gadgets earlier than we should have”, 13% said “peer pressure”, 26% said “many of the school-related activities are becoming online”, and 31% said “children observing parents using gadgets excessively or becoming addicted to them”, while 2% could not say.
- Largely, urban Indian parents felt that their own habit of excessively using gadgets and giving access to children early along with online school activity were key reasons why children were becoming addicted to social media, videos and gaming.
Many social media platforms (Instagram, WhatsApp, Discord, Snapchat, Google Hangouts, Facebook) allow a 13-year-old to create an account. What should the minimum age requirement be?
- 11% said it “should be 13 only”.
- 12% said “should be 15”, 10% said “should be 13 only with mandatory parental consent”.
- The majority, 56% indicated it “should be 15 with mandatory parental consent”
- 11% could not say.
- On an aggregate basis, 68% of urban Indian parents felt that the minimum age requirement for creating a social media account should be changed from 13 to 15 years.
- Over four in 10 urban Indian parents felt that their children in the age group of 9 to 17 were addicted to videos, gaming and social media. This is a worrying trend and needs the attention of the government, schools, parents and platforms offering such services.
Experts speak
Experts said overuse of social media can lead to poor sleep, irritability, stress, anxiety, depression, low self-esteem and difficulty in concentration. Most social media platforms have set 13 as the minimum age to open an account.
Pathological social media use results in the prioritisation of virtual relationships at the cost of real-life responsibilities and relationships. “The compulsive need to constantly check and respond to social media notifications creates distractions that interrupt the course of daily activities and conversations,” states the Social Media Victims Law Center (SMVLC), which works to hold social media companies legally accountable for the harm they inflict on vulnerable users.
