Not so smart idea

Manpriya Singh 

Scientific studies (and not to forget statistics) with real insight into social media (and not to forget smartphones) surround us left, right and centre. It’s only the solutions that continue to evade. It was only a day ago that researchers from the University of Pennsylvania confirmed the cruel irony of social media. What was meant to be a way to reconnect with old friends and grow closer to current ones, could in fact trigger feelings of loneliness. With the help of 143 undergraduate students, the study cites, “causal link between time spent on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat and decreased well-being.” 

Who is to be blamed? 

Closer home, the latest has it that children using mobile phones for over four hours a day develop squint and double vision. In the PGI study, whose report was published in Neuro-Ophthalmology, an international journal, three kids aged 8-12 years were examined. 

Dr Ravinder Singh of Chandigarh Counselling Center, has studied children for over 35 years now. As much as the parents would like to know, he says, “Unfortunately there’s no template. To get off this business of smartphone, a new strategy has to be involved according to each child’s needs and personality.” Nevertheless, he puts things in a broad spectrum, “With children being told a ‘no’ more often than a ‘yes’ at home, they’ll go where they are wanted. They rather spend time with an activity they are interested in. Outside of the smart screen, what awaits them, studies that are boring or life in general where parents are often busy.” He doesn’t mince words in passing the buck where it began from in the first place. “Who introduced them to mobile phones …It is a device they see parents themselves spending a lot of time with.” Otherwise, he adds, “Addiction is a very strong word. Children are just paying more attention to something that appears more interesting to them.”  It’s time they found the world outside and physical activities more interesting. About time, otherwise the very smartphones will in no time make for a very dumb generation. 

Of little things that go a long way 

• In yet another such study quoted by a city-based eye specialist during a seminar, mobile phones have made 93 per cent people sleep-deprived and suffer from headache, 60 per cent anemic, 80 per cent dehydrated and oxygen-deficient and 90 per cent people Vitamin D-deficient.  It doesn’t harm in starting with small changes that have a big potential. 
• Getting a child interested in the world found outside of mobile phones and gaming applications could be the marking point for starters. As Dr. Ruhani Chhabra, practicing clinical psychologist also agrees, “One shared activity with a parent, preferably on a daily basis is a good way to get them going on the journey to a mobile free life.” It all starts with what makes them rather spend time with the screen. More often than not, especially in the case of children, it’s not stress or escapism; it’s the simple joy of entertainment.