Photo Courtesy: Safe Computing

Pragya Rana, 29, is from Baluwatar. She is worried on the online gaming addiction of her 13-year-old nephew.  This sixth grader keeps on playing with the mobile till mid night. This crazy addiction has affected his lifestyle badly and it’s nearly impossible to block his access to devices.

 “He is deeply addicted to online shooting games like sniper fury and PUBG. Sometime he keeps on playing such games for hours and this makes me worried about his health,” Rana said. “I tried a lot not to discourage him using mobile and laptop but he refuges to eat until he sees the device.” She added that government’s decision to ban PUBG is really fair for parents.

Similarly, Bhagawati Bhatta, 28, from Bhaktapur said that her daughter is just five and she can use any social media platforms. “She started using mobile when she was one and half and now she can make a call and use any social networking sites,” Bhatta shared.  When asked, if she shows any obsession to mobile? She replied, “Of course! She cannot sleep without phone. She is quite adamant on watching her favorite cartoon characters before going to bed.” There are a number of parents like Rana and Bhatta, who are worried with online addiction of the young ones.

There is no doubt that social media is crucial for modern communication and socialization in this age of globalization. But at the same time, it has plunged a huge number of youngsters into addiction.  In the past few years, resulting from a strong internet access, children are also using online platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Such users are likely to fall into cyber offense like Virtual comparison, online bullying, online fraud, and scam which are considered as major causes of mental health problems among youngsters.

Speaking about the reason of addiction among children, Clinical Psychologist of Mental Hospital, Trishna Bista stated that parents are equally responsible for such addiction. “First they hand electronic devices to their little ones in order to divert their mind and later the child develops it into a habit and finally is addicted to such devices” Due to a lack of proper time among parents, interaction and communication among today’s children are limited. Hence they choose social media and online gaming to cope up with their loneliness, finally leading to addiction.

Due to such limited interactions with parents, children with online addiction are more likely to develop anxiousness. If professional help is not taken,then the addiction might result in chronic mental health problems like impulsivity, depression, anxiety and even psychosis. Similarly, such addiction may also affect vision and posture of a person.

When asked on how can we decrease the consequences of online addiction,  Bista replied, “Parents should engage their children in interactive and creative works. Similarly, they must impose time limit on their children in using electronic devices.”