The Economic Survey woke me up
Last week’s Economic Survey put words to a worry I’ve carried for years: the spread of compulsive screen use among our young is not just a parenting problem — it is a looming public‑health and productivity challenge for India. The Survey’s clear language on “digital addiction” — from disrupted sleep and concentration to anxiety, depression and falling productivity — should make every parent, teacher and policymaker uncomfortable ThePrint, India Today.
I’ve written about this before and warned that technology without habit design becomes a slow poison for attention and relationships. See my earlier reflections on curbing smartphone use and why replacing bad content with good learning matterstailed in earlier posts Curbing Use of Smartphone and Just replace bad with good content.
What the Survey said — and what it means to me
The Survey is blunt: access is near‑universal among teens and young adults, so the problem is no longer connectivity, it’s how that connectivity shapes behaviour. It links high‑intensity digital use to:
- poorer academic and work outcomes (lost hours, reduced focus),
- mental‑health harms (anxiety, depression, sleep disorders), and
- eroded social capital (weaker peer networks, less offline participation).
As someone who thinks about technology’s long tail effects, that combination is terrifying. A nation’s demographic dividend depends on focus, resilience and social skills — things that do not thrive in a constant dopamine loop.
The false choices: ban vs balance
The Survey sensibly rejects a one‑size‑fits‑all ban. Experience from other countries shows heavy‑handed rules can push behaviour underground or create perverse incentives. Instead it urges a layered response:
- digital‑wellness curricula in schools,
- parental training and role modelling,
- age‑appropriate platform defaults and stronger accountability for harmful content,
- device‑free community hubs and mandatory physical activity in schools,
- scaling counselling and tele‑mental health services like Tele‑MANAS,
- better national data to measure prevalence and outcomes.
These are sensible ideas, but ideas are only as effective as the incentives and institutions that implement them.
Practical steps I believe will work
From home to policy, here are practical, human‑centred measures I’d focus on first.
- Start with parents as behaviour architects
- Role modelling matters more than lectures. Children learn device habits by watching adults.
- Families should adopt simple rituals: device‑free meals, one evening a week offline, and clearly signposted homework‑only modes on devices.
- Teach digital literacy and attention training in schools
- Media literacy teaches kids to assess content quality; attention training (short focused practice) teaches them to resist autopilot scrolling.
- Replace some recreational screen time with structured, engaging offline projects so the vacuum is filled with something constructive.
- Incentivize platforms (not only punish)
- Age‑appropriate defaults, friction for endless autoplay, and transparent metrics on time spent would nudge healthier defaults.
- Public recognition and procurement preference for platforms that demonstrate measurable youth‑wellness outcomes.
- Create attractive offline alternatives
- Youth hubs, sports and arts programs that are free or heavily subsidized in poor neighbourhoods.
- Make offline participation a visible social currency among peers.
- Build measurement and early intervention
- The Survey is right: we need national indicators (screen time, sleep, anxiety, school outcomes) and regular surveys.
- Expand tele‑mental health lines, school counsellors and low‑barrier referral pathways to clinical care.
A note on technology: friend and foe
I remain optimistic about the potential of technology to educate and heal — but optimism without design is naïve. Technology companies must be asked to design for human limits: slower feeds, meaningful defaults, and tools that help rather than hijack attention. In parallel, education and family routines must change so children grow up with skills to manage their attention.
If we fail
If we treat this as a niche parenting challenge, the costs will compound: weakened human capital, higher mental‑health burdens, and a generation with fractured attention and poorer social skills. That outcome would be economically and morally costly.
If we succeed — by combining smart design, supportive policies and family practices — we can keep the enormous benefits of digital access while protecting the inner lives and productivity of our youth.
I’ve been writing about these themes for years because the stakes feel existential: technology that augments life should not hollow it out. The Economic Survey’s call to action is an opportunity — to treat attention, social connection and mental health as national priorities rather than private inconveniences.
Regards,
Hemen Parekh
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