The smartphone can wait, childhood can’t

A smartphone-free campus lets children cultivate the ability to talk without the conversation happening via a screen, play without pausing for a selfie, and be fully present, whether in the classroom or on the sports field

- Saurav Sinha

Access to smartphones at a young age can mean social media anxiety at the cost of genuine friendship.

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Recently, one night, I scrolled through Instagram so relentlessly that I likely scraped the bottom of the algorithmic barrel.

The reels stopped making sense. I wondered, “Does Instagram really think I will love a video of an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-generated frog rapping in Punjabi at three in the morning?” It turns out social media, too, can experience cognitive overload. In machine learning terms, the signal-to-noise ratio drops. The model's confidence in predicting what you want weakens.

How did we get here— exhausting even the systems designed to control us? Recognising social media’s hold over young minds, the Karnataka government is planning to ban smartphones for students under the age of 16 years; the Union IT minister and the Economic Survey have both spoken about the need to restrict youngsters’ access to social media.

I was well into my 30s when social media descended upon us. I shudder to think of being born into it. There was not enough time, and perhaps not enough will, to conduct fundamental research into its long-term impact before it took grip. We gave a loaded gun to our children, and now act surprised when they harm themselves with it.