Imagine a middle-class Indian family in the 1990s, the father reading the newspaper, the mother discussing the day’s events, a ten-year-old daughter doing her homework assigned by school and asking for help from her parents to finish it, and the little son, aged three, is playing on the floor with his toys. Every one of them is mentally and physically present there, talking, laughing and enjoying themselves. Now, fast-forward to 2025, and the scene has drastically transformed. The father scrolls through news on his smartphone, the mother is absorbed in an OTT series, the daughter checks Instagram stories, and the little son quietly watches YouTube Shorts. Though physically together, they are emotionally distant, united under one roof yet separated by the cold blue glow of their screens.
This paradigm shift from connected to mobile-oriented aggravated the lives of millions, and most egregiously affected among them are the children. The excessive use of Mobile phones has brought innumerable cultural and neurological crises that have altered the childhood experience and brain chemistry. How alarmingly it shackles the children can be understood through these stories. For instance, a three-year-old refusing to eat without cartoons, or a five-year-old unable to speak properly due to lack of interaction, is now a common sight. This growing dependence on screens has led to developmental delays, language disorders, “virtual autism,” obesity, and myopia. Children today spend less time outdoors than prison inmates. Aarav, a nine-year-old from Gurgaon, illustrates this crisis vividly. With both parents working, he was introduced to a smartphone at age one to keep him occupied. By four, he had his own phone and rarely went outside. His eyesight weakened, headaches began, and attempts to limit his screen time resulted in violent tantrums. Such behaviour mirrors drug withdrawal symptoms, underscoring that screen dependency is not a habit—it is an addiction. At first, the digital screen appeared innocuous for all but now it turned out to be\ an instrument of alienation and addiction.
Moreover, a survey conducted in 2024 says that over 70,000 urban Indian parents found that 66% reported their children were addicted to digital entertainment platforms, while 58% observed growing aggression and impatience. The World Health Organisation recommends zero screen time for children under two and a maximum of one hour daily for those aged two to four, yet a study by AIIMS Raipur found Indian children under five average 2.2 hours of screen exposure daily, more than double the safe limit. The implications are grave and multifaceted.
The Hidden Consequences: How Screens Rewire the Developing Brain
The excessive use of Mobile Phones creates innumerable problems. The adverse effects of excessive screen exposure are evident in children’s physical, cognitive, and emotional health. Here are some diseases and problems that come due to the overuse of electronic gadgets:
1. Myopia and Physical Health Decline:
One of the detrimental impacts that comes out of excessive use of phones is the rise of ‘vision crises' or Myopia. According to the Association of Community Ophthalmologists of India, if current trends persist, half of all Indian children will require glasses by 2050. This data might seem like only a number now, but the consequences of this will be severe. Nowadays, we can see very little outdoor activity where children prefer to stay with their mobile screens. This tendency has disrupted our eyesight development and has Serious repercussions on our overall health as well. Natural daylight is vital for healthy vision, and its absence drastically increases myopia risk.
Another problem that arises due to the constant screen exposure is ‘childhood obesity’. It is very disheartening and appalling to see that today, children are being fed while watching cartoons, which leads to overeating, poor digestion, and dental issues. A UK survey revealed that 23% of children consider video gaming to be a form of exercise, reflecting the distorted perception of physical activity among the digital generation.
2. The Sleep Crisis:
Proper sleeping is one of the important factors for our health, but the overindulgence in screens has disrupted these cycles. A review of 67 studies on children aged 5–17 found that each additional hour of screen time reduces sleep duration by approximately ten minutes. Moreover, Finnish and Chinese studies further show that every extra hour of screen time increases the risk of sleep disorders by 12%. To a further extent, blue light from screens suppresses melatonin, the sleep hormone, particularly in children, where its effect is twice as strong as in adults. Finally, Sleep deprivation leads to poor academic performance, weakened attention spans, and emotional instability.
3. Developmental Delays and Virtual Autism:
One of the most alarming effects is developmental delay. For instance, in Udhampur, a girl named Priya stopped speaking coherently after prolonged screen exposure. Similar cases have been documented nationwide. Furthermore, it is also reported that over 7,000 children under one year are exposed to 1–4 hours of screen time daily, and have three times more. Developmental delay, while those exceeding four hours had five times higher delays. Experts now identify a condition termed “Virtual Autism,” exhibiting symptoms such as social withdrawal, poor attention, and delayed speech, caused not by genetics but by overstimulation and lack of real-world interaction. Children need extra care and need constant interaction between them. Holding them mobile phone rather than speaking with them can have a serious impact. As we know, in the early stage, children try to learn everything through two main engagements. Firstly, they constantly watch the facial expressions of others and try to imitate them. Secondly, interaction and listening to them. But it is sad to see the pathetic condition of children today, where they, even at the age of 12, can’t easily communicate.
Moreover, this materialistic world has allured people with instant gratification and success, and in order to gain this, they forget the values of human life. Today’s cartoon channel has contributed a lot to these problems. Cartoons like Tom & Jerry or CoComelon have exacerbated the issue. Moreover, CoComelon, with its rapid scene changes, saturated colours, and energetic music, is scientifically designed to trigger dopamine release and hold attention. Parents report that their children behave like “zombies,” display aggression, and lose interest in real-world play, a phenomenon dubbed the “CoComelon Effect.” Therefore, children have to be kept away from these cartoon channels.
Breaking the Cycle: Parental Responsibility and Preventive Strategies
Every disease has its own medicine, and this disease can be cured with the proper use of it. There are so many preventive measures that can be taken and ways can be applied to resolve this epidemic. First and most important measure is that parents have to be more conscious and scrupulous about it. Therefore, parental responsibility comes first to dispel this problem. Parents must prioritise emotional engagement over convenience. Instead of scolding or shaming children for their dependency, they should establish shared missions to reduce screen time. Replacing screen-based stimulation with genuine affection, storytelling, and creative play nurtures emotional stability.
Here are some practical strategies, including:
- No screen exposure for children under 2, and minimal exposure up to age.
- Active parental modelling: parents must reduce their own phone use, as studies show that children mirror adult behaviour.
- Creating screen-free zones, especially in bedrooms and dining areas, to encourage interpersonal interaction.
- Encouraging outdoor and creative play for at least three hours daily, including activities such as drawing, puzzles, reading, or board games.
- Collaborative boundary-setting: grandparents and relatives should be educated about the risks of screen exposure to ensure consistency at home.
As children grow, screen time can be structured constructively, through educational content and supervised digital literacy, but only after establishing strong foundations in real-world social and emotional development.
Conclusion
In conclusion, although digitalisation seemed harmless at first, its dangers are far greater than we realised. It has affected both our physical health and our social relationships, threatening not only our bodies but also the very fabric of human connection. Smartphones, once seen as symbols of progress, have quietly entered and changed our most important social unit, the family. It has also created many problems, from sleep disorders to language delays, from obesity to social withdrawal and so on. Therefore, it is the responsibility of parents to take care of their children, keep them away from screens and provide them with real human connection, care, and support.
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