Should India follow Australia’s proposed ban on social media for under-16s? Jury is still out | India News – Times of India

New Delhi: Australia’s decision to introduce a law banning social media use among children under the age of 16 has received mixed reactions from psychologists in India, who argue that while the decision is well-intentioned, it is difficult to be carried out.
According to Dr. Rajesh Sagar, professor of psychiatry at AIIMS Delhi, there is evidence of a link between problematic social media use and an increase in psychological symptoms in children and adolescents. In this regard, he believes, banning the use of social media among children is a welcome step. But, Dr Sagar added, it will be difficult to implement the complete ban.
“It is important to understand the positive and negative effects of social media and technology use. Hence, there is a need to promote healthy consumption,” explains the AIIMS professor.
Recently, the American Psychological Association (APA) also issued a health advisory on social media use during adolescence, stating that excessive or “problematic use of social media” can impair adolescents’ ability to participate in daily roles and routines. to obstruct. It may also pose a risk for more serious psychological harm over time, the APA advisory said.
Dr. Pramit Rastogi, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at the STEPS Center for Mental Health, said the ban proposal reflects the reality that children whose minds are not developed enough to access and regulate screen time are given these devices without the necessary checks and balances. balances. in place. “That said, this will run into second-order problems such as the development of unregulated and illegal social media channels. We need to let the West go through one iteration of this first so that we can learn from it and then introduce the second generation level of social media ban, for example the inability to access mainstream social media in school buildings, internet service providers, who offering parents controls at the provider level instead of the checks and balances at the individual device level that parents now have to do,” he said.
According to Dr Roma Kumar, senior consultant psychologist at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, widespread access to digital and social media has drastically changed the nature of adolescents’ interpersonal connections. “Depression, anxiety and suicidality have all increased dramatically among adolescents over the past decade,” she says.
Citing several studies, the APA said adolescents should get at least eight hours of sleep every night and maintain a regular sleep-wake schedule. “Data shows that technology use, particularly within an hour of bedtime, and social media use in particular, is associated with sleep disruption. Inadequate sleep is associated with neurodevelopmental disruptions in adolescent brains, teen emotional functioning and suicide risk,” the report said.

Indicators of problematic social media use in adolescents (10-19 years):

Advisory

Source: American Psychological Association