Childhood in the Digital Age

From mealtimes to bedtime, screens are changing how Kashmiri children grow, sleep, and connect.

- Dr. Mushtaq Rather

For years, Kashmiri children lived with a kind of silence the rest of the country rarely understood. Schools were shut down by situation, and classrooms replaced by uncertainty. When online learning finally arrived, it felt like a miracle.

A screen became a lifeline, offering education, connection, and some normalcy.

But that same screen is now doing something more sinister.

It is creeping into bedrooms, mealtimes, even toddler feeding routines, warping the way children think, feel, sleep, and grow.

What began as digital empowerment is slowly turning into a crisis. Across India, nearly 470 million children under 18, almost 39% of the population, are growing up in this digital swirl. And as the country aspires to become a Viksit Bharat by 2047, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dream of a self-reliant India hangs heavily on how these children learn, adapt, and thrive.

But in Kashmir, that dream is filtered through a screen. And increasingly, that screen is turning from tool to trap.

A recent survey paints a stark picture: 60% of children aged 5 to 16 exhibit signs of digital addiction.

Most are clocking more hours online than what's considered healthy. Sleep cycles are disintegrating. Academic focus is thinning. Real friendships are vanishing. And parents, already overwhelmed by social shifts and political anxieties, are struggling to intervene.

Only 10% of parents use digital restrictions. The rest watch helplessly as the screen takes over their child's day. And in many cases, their emotional world.

The World Health Organization recommends zero screen time for children under two, and no more than one hour a day for those between two and five.