COVID-19 effect: Addiction to virtual world turning kids rash and impulsive

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Five-year-old Tara spends almost seven to eight hours a day on gadgets like mobile, laptop and TV, which has become a great cause of concern for her parents.

The virtual exposure which started with online schooling last year has turned into such an addiction for Tara that whenever her parents switch off the TV or take away her mobile, the little girl gets violent. She starts throwing things, screams and cries loudly.

Seeing her behaviour, Tara’s mother V Shravani, an IT employee, has started taking her to a child psychologist. Obviously, Tara’s is not just the only such case during this pandemic.

The screen time has increased so significantly that it is hindering the overall growth of these kids, and affecting their mental health. According to mental health experts, increased screen time is badly affecting the development of language skills, cognitive skills, social and interpersonal skills among pre-school kids.

“We will have this generation of kids who won’t know how to communicate with others at all. They are not going to school, many don’t even go to play outside due to the pandemic; they are spending all their time with the gadgets. The children aren’t interacting with others, leaving their inquisitive nature unexplored; this will affect their social, emotional and cognitive development,” said Dr Poorna Chandrika, director of the Institute of Mental Health (IMH).

Excessive screen time also leads to emotional, sleep, and behavioural issues in under-five children, she added. Mental health experts said it can also cause isolation at a young age, leading to issues like increased anxiety and even depression in the future. Chennai based psychologist Dr Lakshmi Vijayakumar said, “I received a four-year-old patient recently who had not eaten for two days because his iPad had broken.”

“He only had broken the gadget in anger as he didn’t want to share it with his friend. Parents tried their best to pacify and convince the child to eat, but he didn’t deter following which they visited me. Such cases are really worrisome because it will lead to serious behavioural problems later in the life of the child,” Dr Lakshmi added.

She added that when compared to last year, the number of her patients from pre-schools have increased, and so has the severity of mental health issues among them. Dr Lakshmi said the kids got more access to gadgets during the pandemic also because parents thought it was an easy tool at their disposal to keep the children engaged.