PROTECTING YOUNG MINDS

The deaths of three minors by suicide, reportedly linked to social media distress, have jolted India into confronting a question it has long postponed: how should a society that prides itself on demographic youthfulness protect young minds in an age of algorithmic persuasion?

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The Economic Survey 2025-26 has placed the issue squarely in the policy arena, warning that digital addiction is no longer about access but about overexposure, design manipulation, and the psychological vulnerabilities of adolescence.For a country with more than 250 million people aged between 15 and 24, the stakes are civilisational. India’s digital public infrastructure has been celebrated as a model for inclusion, yet its social media ecosystem reveals a darker paradox: the same connectivity that empowers can also corrode. The debate is no longer about whether social media harms young users; it is about how a democratic society should respond without sacrificing liberty, innovation, or the open internet.

Neuroscience and behavioural research offer sobering insights into why adolescents are uniquely susceptible. ‘The teenage brain is still developing its prefrontal cortex, the region responsible for impulse control and long-term decision-making, while the limbic system, which processes rewards and emotions, is highly active. Social media platforms, optimised for engagement, exploit this imbalance through endless scrolling, algorithmic amplification, streaks, likes, and targeted content that stimulates dopamine-driven reward cycles. The result is not merely distraction but dependency. Studies in India and abroad increasingly link excessive social media use with anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, body-image issues, and cyberbullying trauma. In a culture already grappling with exam stress, social comparison, and urban isolation, digital validation becomes a fragile substitute for self-worth. ‘The Economic Survey's call for age-appropriate access and safer defaults acknowledges a truth parents and teachers have sensed intuitively: the architecture of platforms is not neutral; it is engineered to capture attention at scale.