After the COVID-19 period, as children returned to school and face-to-face teaching recommenced, there was an upswing in the use of the Internet for leisure. A recent survey by LocalCircles indicates that urban Indian youngsters spend more and more time listening to music, viewing clips, maintaining social connections, and playing games on the Internet. This trend has given rise to a growing addiction to electronic gadgets among children aged 9 to 18. This addiction, in some instances, has manifested as impatience, aggression, concentration problems, memory issues, headaches, eye and back discomfort, stress, communication difficulties, lethargy, and even depression. In many cases, parents reported that they are unaware of the apps that their children use.
The nationwide survey aimed to grasp the primary concerns parents had regarding their children’s prolonged usage of social media, OTT, and online gaming platforms. Additionally, it sought parents’ views on the necessity of parental permission for accessing these platforms. The survey gathered feedback from over 46,000 urban Indian parents spanning 296 districts in India. Of these respondents, 62% were male and 38% were female. Respondents were from districts across tiers, with 47% from tier 1, 35% from tier 2, and 18% from tiers 3 and 4.
The survey asked about the daily Internet consumption of children aged 9-17 concerning social media, videos/OTT, and online gaming. Of the 11,507 replies received, 61% of urban Indian parents indicated that their children devoted an average of 3 hours or longer each day to these pursuits (Chart 1). To break it down, 39% said that their children used gadgets for 1-3 hours daily, 46% said 3-6 hours, and 15% said over 6 hours. Importantly, no participants said that their children abstained from such online activities.
