The digital revolution pervades every sector, including education. Covid-19 compelled educators to depend on technology to lessen the learning gap children were experiencing due to school closures.
Technology continues to play an essential role in delivering education to students outside of school. Education technology has the potential to make education more self-directed, personalized, connected and human-centred. It also promises to provide quality education along with ensuring a more inclusive and equitable education for all.
However, usage of digital technology is not only limited to its use for educational purposes but also socialisation and entertainment purposes. One of the problems associated with the unregulated and increasing use of social media technology, as reported, is increased screen time, which has adverse impacts on the physical and mental health of children.
Insufficient regulation of these platforms has led to the unauthorised use of personal data for commercial purposes and increased incidences of cyberbullying. The excessive use of social media has the potential of making children addicted to it. A growing number of children report upsetting experiences associated with online activities.
Research conducted to study the patterns of usage of social media and its impact on children clearly suggest that apart from leading to addictive behaviour these platforms have also adversely affected the social relationships and community life of children. It is witnessed that children now spend less time with friends and families and are more attracted to their virtual selves where they can interact with friends and peers in a forum that is often shielded from supervising adults.
The popularity of the social media is also responsible for shaping the identities of children. Its influence among the teenagers is growing as these platforms allow one to adjust one’s profile in the best possible manner by allowing them to show the most ideal picture of themselves to the world.
Attention and popularity are seen to be very important for the teenagers as they are in the transitionary period of their lives. Social media provides the platform for socialising and making new friends and younger children are usually vulnerable to the next “new” thing in their lives.
They also tend to go overboard in buying expensive clothes and begin to spend a lot of money on their appearance. This, in the long run, keeps them marooned in the virtual world, and they lose contact with real life.
Social media sites exist to foster social connections, but many use the sites to compare themselves to others, seeking “likes” and other metrics rather than healthy, successful relationships.
These platforms also allow one to disclose personal information and receive immediate feedback placing one at risk as children are unaware of the perils of sharing their sensitive and personal information in the public domain. They constantly feel they are being watched and evaluated, which results in their becoming obsessed with their appearance.
The heightened feeling of recognition on social media guides self-worth and self-esteem, compelling people to project themselves in the best light. As the youth are impressionable at this age, social media adds to the prevailing peer pressure, which some find difficult to handle.
The excessive use of social media is making young children addicted to it with a constant habit of checking their online accounts for likes, dislikes and comments on their activities online. These likes and dislikes affect one by leading to fluctuations in their self-esteem.
While the discussions above point to the detriments of social media on psycho-social well-being, evidence from this research also suggests that the manner and extent of use of social media has changed the overall lifestyle of children. It has affected their sleep cycle, which is considered very crucial for brain development according to APA chief Scientist (2023), “Research suggests that insufficient sleep is associated with poor school performance, difficulties with attention, stress regulation, and increased risk for automobile accidents,”. Also, “Neuroscientific research has demonstrated that inconsistent sleep schedules are associated with changes in structural brain development in adolescent years. In other words, youths’ preoccupation with technology and social media may deleteriously affect the size of their brains.”
A recent national survey conducted by Local Circles in 2023, it was reported that 60% of Indian youngsters (aged between 9 to 17 years) spend more than 3 hours daily using social media and gaming apps.
The survey included interviews of nearly 50,000 parents in India. The findings suggested that six out of ten youngsters aged 9 to 17 spend more than three hours daily on social media or gaming platforms. Only 10 per cent of parents noted that their child felt “happier” after spending time on social media or gaming.
The study clearly suggests that social media is posing more negative impacts than positive impacts. The survey also found out that, 39% of Indian youngsters (9 to 17 years old) feel aggressive after using social media. Other emotions they show are impatience (37%), lethargy (27%), etc. Social media has revolutionised how we consume content available on the internet today. WhatsApp is the most used social media platform in India, with 83% of internet users accessing it. It is followed by Instagram and Facebook with 80.6% and 71.7% share respectively Data Reportal. (July, 2024).
These negative repercussions of the excessive use of social media have been noticed globally and, in this backdrop, recently, the Australian prime Minister announced plans to ban social media use for children in Australia, citing, “I want to see kids off their devices and onto the footy fields and the swimming pools and the tennis courts,” he also added, “We want them to have real experiences with real people because we know that social media is causing social harm,”.
The report by the U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy (2022), suggests that over three hours of daily social media interaction has higher risks of depression and anxiety among children. The report cited a “profound risk of harm” to adolescent mental health and urged families to set limits and governments to set stricter standards for use.
These sites have become an in-built part of the Indian youth today who are deemed “digital natives”. As social media is associated with significant mental and physical health harms for adolescents by cultivating a sedentary lifestyle, it has resulted in no physical activity the child, which is adversely affecting the mental and physical well-being of the adolescent children.
Technology in education has the potential to make possible the reduction of learning poverty by ensuring a quality and equitable education, which, according to the World Bank Group, is likely to worsen from 53% to 63%, especially in low-income countries. However, the challenges posed by social media, owing to its adverse impact on the mental and physical well-being of children, require an urgent remediation intervention.
There is growing evidence that because of their hyperlinked architecture, social media can prove more distracting than focusing. The behavioural changes that make children impatient, lethargic, and aggressive and also impact their concentration span are serious and damaging.
Also, a sedentary lifestyle impacts physical well-being, which is crucial for the healthy development of a child, which also ensures the healthy development of the brain and, thus, better learning. “Education at its heart is about human connections and relationships”.
Though the bans are hard to enforce in a digital environment, banning social media use under the pretext of enhancing physical interaction and encouraging more physical activity of children is a welcoming move.
