Over One-Fourth of Indian Adolescents Suffer Digital Addiction

Over 25 per cent of Indian adolescents aged 13 to 17 years suffer from digital addiction. They spend six hours or more every day on smartphones or digital devices. This finding of a nationwide survey is a cause of concern.

This survey included responses from 9,633 parents from 287 districts. As per its findings, 28 per cent children spend a quarter of the day or more on digital devices. Number of children spending three hours to six hours on such digital devices is 34 per cent.

Local Circles, a community social media platform conducted this survey.

Children got hooked to digital devices during the COVID-19 pandemic. Urban parents complained that their children were addicted to social media or online gaming or videos.

An earlier study revealed that around 30 per cent of school students in Navi Mumbai and Haryana were addicted to using digital devices. In Delhi 17 per cent school students were unable to concentrate on their studies because of mobile phones. Some 41 per cent of them preferred to interact with their online buddies rather than real-life family members or friends.

An NCPCR study in 2021 found that 37 per cent of 10-year-olds had Facebook accounts and 24 per cent of 10-year-olds had Instagram accounts.