The craze of internet usage among children is increasing day by day. In a recent survey, more than 40% of the country’s parents believed that their children are addicted to social media, watching videos and playing online games. The age of these children is between 9 to 17 years. This survey has been done by the community social media platform LocalCircles.

Children spend 3 hours daily on the internet
49% of the parents surveyed believe that their 9 to 13-year-old children spend more than 3 hours a day on the Internet. At the same time, 47% parents told that their children are badly addicted to social media, videos and online gaming.

On the other hand, 62% of the parents believed that children aged 13 to 17 use smartphones for more than 3 hours every day. 44% say that their children are addicted to entertainment on the Internet.

Nowadays even small children have become used to using the phone continuously.

Online class increased addiction in Corona
About 55% of parents in the survey reported that their 9 to 13-year-old children have access to smartphones throughout the day. That is, there is no restriction on them and they can use it anytime. At the same time, 71% people said that their 13 to 17-year-old children keep on using the phone all day. All parents agreed that online classes in the Corona era have increased the addiction of smart gadgets among children.

Increasing anxiety, depression by using the phone
Nowadays children are falling prey to mental health disorders due to excessive use of social media. Stress, anxiety and depression are increasing in them. Also, there is a lack of confidence, focus and good sleep. There are also rapid changes in the behavior of teenagers. They are becoming more irritable and angry. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the use of electronic devices should be less than 2 hours daily for better sleep.

Due to the Corona epidemic, children started studying online, due to which the use of internet increased further.

Change in the age of running social media
In the survey, 68% of the parents believed that the minimum age for creating a social media account should be increased from 13 years to 15 years. Along with this, the government should ensure that the guidelines of social media platforms are strictly followed. Children under the age of 15 cannot create their own account.

This survey was done on 65 thousand parents of 287 districts of India. Of this, 67% were male and 33% were female. 51% people were from metro city or tier-1 city. Whereas 37% were from Tier-2 and 12% from Tier-3 and Tier-4 districts. The study was divided into 9- to 13-year-olds and 13- to 17-year-olds.