- 6 months ago
At the India Today Education Conclave 2026, experts warned that social media is affecting children’s learning, mental health, and social skills. How can parents, schools, and policymakers ensure responsible digital use and meaningful offline experiences?
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00:00Good afternoon. About 15 years ago, I wrote my first book and it was on social media addiction.
00:09At that time, Nimhans in Bangalore had just started their social media de-addiction center.
00:16And I'd gone down to spend some time with the convener there, Dr. Manoj Sharma.
00:21And I spent time with some of the children and the families who had come,
00:24many of whom had been brought in because they were turned violent or even suicidal if their gadgets were taken away.
00:32And this was just the dawn of social media.
00:35So it was very frightening and overwhelming for the parents.
00:39But there were three that I'd written about a lot and they really stayed with me.
00:44One was a boy who had stopped going to school. He was 12.
00:49And when you asked him why, he said, because my teachers are wrong.
00:53My friends online say that this answer that I gave was correct, but my teacher is not listening to me.
01:02So school is now irrelevant.
01:05Another kid was there who had been caught trolling his friends online using extremely unacceptable language.
01:16And his mother was very concerned and he was brought in.
01:19And he was about 14 and he'd gone through counselling.
01:23So he did understand what he was doing was wrong, but he still felt the urge for it.
01:29So he did say repeatedly that I can't see the other person.
01:34I can't see the sensory cues.
01:36I'm not hurting anyone physically.
01:39What do I do with my anger?
01:40I still feel the need to do it.
01:42And there was another one and she was a very young girl and it was, I mean, it's really stayed with me.
01:49She was 15 and she was part of an online simulation game, which was also, you know, you have the chat.
01:56So it does fall within social media.
01:58And it had been hacked and her character had been, you know, the hacker did something and the character was doing crude things.
02:12And this affected her so deeply offline that she displayed actual symptoms of PTSD and trauma and she had to go through medication and there on.
02:23But again, that was 15 years ago and things have changed.
02:29So I wanted to start this discussion, not on a debate on screen time and the pros and cons, but to really look at our lived realities today.
02:39So if you could start, ma'am, by, you know, sharing how social media is not just impacting how we are learning,
02:48but also impacting how they engage and how they view learning today.
02:53Yeah, so, um, I do want to sort of clarify that sometimes I feel we are barking up the wrong tree.
03:03Okay.
03:04Because like the topic is also rewiring learning as if, you know, learning needs to be rewired.
03:12Why are we even talking about social media?
03:16I mean, Amit has done a great job in telling us, you know, how, what it does to kids.
03:21And we know that kids learn through experiences, that knowledge is constructed through experience and memory grows through knowledge.
03:33And also we tend to take education as this all-encompassing umbrella.
03:42When Dr. Dinesh Singh spoke, he was speaking largely of higher education.
03:46So when we talk education, do we talk about that five-year-old kid or we talk about the 18-year-old kid?
03:52And are we saying that the three-year-old that enters should use AI or should be given social media?
04:00I mean, it's like saying, oh, we know there are ditches on the road.
04:04Now let's try to get people who do driving, drive it better so that you don't fall into the ditch.
04:10Not that we remove the ditches.
04:12You know, oh, there's pollution, let's give hybrid, let's put them onto the screen, not let's reduce pollution.
04:25But, you know, oh, kids can now sort of reinvent themselves.
04:29And all of us are very happy and not realizing that this only means money to some people.
04:35It doesn't mean education.
04:37We can't talk of education and AI or social media in the same breath.
04:43This is my firm belief.
04:45Anecdotes, I think, Amit has given.
04:47We've got these three children.
04:50So children, I mean, there's so many anecdotes if one had to talk about.
04:55And it's all to do with how to make fools of the elders, when I think of it, really.
05:03You know, like we have a case of a kid who, by the way, was taking out money from Google Pay, from his own mother's account, on a daily basis.
05:13He learned from online how to disable notifications.
05:19And one fine day when about 80,000 had come off, and he was doing it to buy web pens.
05:26And they were sold, by the way, at a profit.
05:28So there was some commerce going on.
05:30Now, you could just see what is the objective.
05:34Why, as educators, are we even talking about how to deal with social media in learning?
05:42You know, when technology came in, there was this great thing about how to give tablets to everybody in the country.
05:49What were we trying to achieve?
05:51Is a question that, really, I would want you to consider in this whole thing.
05:57Is there any potential for social media in learning?
06:00I mean, have you seen any benefits of it?
06:03Well, I mean, I had sort of Googled to see what are the benefits of social media.
06:12It says, enhanced communication.
06:16For children, communication is talking to your friends.
06:20It's not talking to the computer.
06:23So there is an outward looking.
06:25There is no inward looking.
06:27There's no interaction.
06:29You know, I...
06:30It's like wearing the mask for COVID.
06:32I see your eyes.
06:35I don't see your face.
06:36I don't get the signals from your face.
06:39You know?
06:39So AI will give you this strange thing that you're talking to.
06:43You know, anime is a great thing.
06:45So that is it.
06:47Access to rich resources.
06:49What could be richer than actually putting your hand into the soil?
06:55It's a different matter that we've destroyed our soils.
06:58You know?
06:59But putting your hands into, you know,
07:01Koi loota de wo kagas ki kashti.
07:04Wo baarish ka paani kaha se loota hoge.
07:07Jab hai nahin.
07:07Now rich resources is online.
07:10Let's watch the rain falling.
07:12You know?
07:13And see how it is.
07:14So let's watch the whales swimming in the Arctic Ocean
07:17when we're not saying that we've actually killed most of the whales
07:20and ate them up.
07:21But you know, this is what we want to talk about.
07:24Who are we fooling?
07:26Then deeper engagement, interactive content,
07:30live stream makes learning more visual.
07:34I mean, words.
07:35We're so caught up with words.
07:37We're caught up with this whole illusory thing.
07:39And we want our children to walk into it
07:42and not look at reality at all.
07:45Skill development.
07:48At what age do you talk skills?
07:51You know, four-year-old is not talking skills, actually.
07:54He's still there.
07:55What are the developmental milestones?
07:57We all learn them as educators.
07:59Do we hit any of them?
08:01Is the question.
08:03Connects to the real world, by the way.
08:05Mentorship.
08:06So you can mentor with somebody in Harvard.
08:09You don't have to mentor with anybody at home.
08:12So we don't talk.
08:13We used to say that it takes a village to bring up a child.
08:16There is no village now.
08:18The village is the social media.
08:21And we know what bringing up it's doing.
08:24So society has gone down the drain.
08:26Parents, as you said, are on this thing.
08:29I'm just doing admissions.
08:31And when I talk to children,
08:33minimum three hours for a five-year-old, six-year-old.
08:36Minimum on the thing.
08:39So if you go to a wedding,
08:40you won't irritate other guests.
08:44You sit at one place.
08:45You're mobile.
08:46You sit at one place.
08:47Because it's not a safe world.
08:49Do we talk safety?
08:51We say, no,
08:52that you cannot actually write and be creative
08:55if there's no safety.
08:57But you want to put them into an unsafe world
08:59and say, no, be creative.
09:02You know, make a new reel of yourself being wicked.
09:08Is there something you'd like to add?
09:13So I resonate and agree with a lot of what you said,
09:17Mrs. Koshi,
09:17particularly the metaphor of pollution, you know,
09:21and how it's been years and decades perhaps
09:25when we've been at least two decades
09:27we've been talking about pollution in Delhi, NCR,
09:29and other parts of our country.
09:31And each year, when the time comes,
09:33we talk about it.
09:33We brainstorm it.
09:34We talk about alternatives, et cetera.
09:37But at the end of the day,
09:38it's up to individuals.
09:39And when it comes to children, like you said,
09:42the spaces keep getting restricted.
09:43They have to go to the pediatricians,
09:45get medicines for asthma.
09:47So we're working on how to get those better.
09:49We are making the air purifiers cheaper
09:51rather than actually working at the root cause.
09:54And similar to that, I think,
09:55the social spaces, emotional spaces,
10:00particularly about emotional safety,
10:02those have shrunk so much.
10:04And that is what I meant when I said that
10:05while, you know, the digital media,
10:08in a strange way, you know,
10:10at least they say that it, you know,
10:13expands possibilities, et cetera,
10:16but it also restricts it.
10:18For the same reason,
10:19because there is no safety.
10:20There is no,
10:21and you have to kind of buckle down
10:23and fit in to those stereotypes
10:26that this space has created, isn't it?
10:29So I, however,
10:31the other way I look at it is that
10:32it's not going to go away.
10:34It's here to stay.
10:35So we have to figure a way out.
10:36We have to confront it and say,
10:38what do we do about this monster
10:40or behemoth that is there
10:42sitting in the middle of us?
10:43And so, of course,
10:45there are many people,
10:46and I'm sure a lot of you as educators
10:49believe that AI and other,
10:52you know, the social media,
10:54digital spaces can be used in education.
10:57And I'm sure it can do,
10:59but then how do you use it responsibly?
11:02You know, for instance,
11:03you don't give a bottle of vodka
11:05or a packet of cigarette to a 10-year-old
11:08and say, use it responsibly, right?
11:10And similar to that,
11:12when you are handing this over,
11:15either handing it over
11:16or trying to snatch it back, right?
11:17That's the kind of tussle we are having.
11:19There is hardly any kind of,
11:21you know, dialogue and a space
11:23where one can come together,
11:24which is why I kept coming back
11:26to the collaborative approach.
11:27But unless we come together
11:28and we put our heads together
11:29and figure out what to do
11:30so that our children do not get damaged
11:34and they do not, you know,
11:36kind of build a substrate
11:37of fear, suspicion,
11:42lack of trust at their early age.
11:45Because if that is the foundation
11:46on which the rest of their lives build,
11:49then we will have consequences
11:50as the world sees today.
11:52The polarization,
11:53the wars that we fight.
11:54Those are the other consequences
11:55that you face
11:56when you have children grow up
11:58with so much of fear
11:59and othering and all of that,
12:00isn't it?
12:01And that's, I think,
12:03something that we need,
12:04we have to,
12:05I mean, there is no alternative,
12:06there is no option
12:07but to be able to address it.
12:09I want to object to that.
12:13Mainly because, you know,
12:14this, I work in the world
12:16of the field of inclusion
12:17and we always say,
12:20stop trying to fit, you know,
12:22square pegs into round holes.
12:24This is exactly like that.
12:25Oh, we live in a world of drink,
12:28so let's get our children
12:29to sort of deal with it.
12:30I don't think there are
12:31any compromises here.
12:32I think we've got to stop saying
12:33that this is here to stay.
12:36Let's work around it
12:38because in the world of childhood,
12:40and I'm talking of young children,
12:42I'm not sort of,
12:43because we have,
12:45I mean, as kids,
12:46we were talked about,
12:47told about unity and diversity.
12:49What is this diversity?
12:52You know,
12:52there's ecological diversity,
12:54there's biological diversity,
12:55there's mental,
12:56there's cultural,
12:57there's religious.
12:57So when you say social media
13:00for education,
13:01which child are you talking about?
13:05I mean,
13:05when you were given the COVID vaccine,
13:08did anybody tell you,
13:09oh, you're an 80 year old
13:10with diabetes?
13:12Don't take the vaccine.
13:13You are somebody with
13:15multiple sclerosis.
13:17Don't take the vaccine.
13:20It's dangerous
13:22for somebody with MS
13:24to take the vaccine.
13:26Okay?
13:27I know that
13:28from personal experience.
13:30And so you can't sort of say
13:31this one,
13:32you know,
13:32size fits all business.
13:34And if we are talking education,
13:37education,
13:38the caregivers,
13:39who are the caregivers?
13:41Will the caregivers
13:42actually give
13:44a snake
13:45when the child
13:46is asking for fish?
13:47Will you give a snake
13:49is the question.
13:50That's what I would want you to say,
13:51Amit.
13:51How am I going to adjust
13:53to this world?
13:54Sure.
13:54So all I'm,
13:55I was saying to say,
13:56parent,
13:56what will you do?
13:57So neurodiversity,
13:59neurodivergence
13:59is something that we,
14:00is central to the work
14:02that we do.
14:02In fact,
14:03a lot of the kids
14:03who come from your school
14:05and others
14:05are,
14:06come to us
14:06because we are able
14:07to decipher
14:08those nuances
14:09and how children grow
14:10and develop.
14:11And that's the,
14:11you know,
14:12that's the core
14:13of our work,
14:14isn't it?
14:14Yeah?
14:14I'm not disputing
14:15that at all.
14:16All I'm saying is that
14:17can you take away
14:18all gadgets
14:19like mobile phones,
14:20laptops,
14:21computers,
14:21from the world?
14:22I mean,
14:23how will you
14:23protect your children
14:24from it?
14:24And that's,
14:25and I'm not saying
14:26that you should not
14:27attempt to do it.
14:28I'm saying,
14:29and of course
14:29there are these stages,
14:30like you said,
14:30there are three-year-olds,
14:31five-year-olds,
14:3210,
14:3218,
14:33they all have
14:34different developmental
14:34needs.
14:35And even to kind of
14:37ask the question
14:38as to when do you
14:39introduce them
14:40to this world?
14:41When do you introduce
14:42them to the digital world?
14:43That's why we have
14:44to put our heads
14:45together to be able
14:45to decipher it.
14:46That's what I'm talking
14:47about.
14:47I'm not saying that
14:48you,
14:48you know,
14:49it should be,
14:50you know,
14:50given to them
14:52without any thought
14:53or,
14:53you know,
14:54that's my point.
14:56And I think that,
14:56yeah.
14:57We should take
14:58responsibility.
14:59Like,
14:59what is this world?
15:00As a parent,
15:01I have a home.
15:02I have a kid.
15:03As a school,
15:04I have certain kids.
15:05Okay?
15:06So this is the world.
15:07We are not talking
15:08of the world
15:09stopping things.
15:10They won't.
15:11Pornography is in the world.
15:12We can't stop it.
15:14But our kids
15:15are,
15:16have access to it
15:17because somebody
15:18is saying
15:18they can't control
15:20the giving
15:21of the mobile
15:22to the kid.
15:23That's a very strong
15:24point you made.
15:24I completely agree
15:25with that.
15:26And we are responsible
15:26for that.
15:27Absolutely.
15:27So parents,
15:28do they take
15:29responsibility
15:29of making sure
15:30the kids don't drink?
15:31That they don't smoke?
15:33Why can they not
15:34take responsibility
15:35for not giving
15:36the phone?
15:37And why will we
15:38allow them
15:39to think
15:40that it is not
15:42their responsibility
15:42to drink that?
15:43I'd like to
15:44talk a bit
15:45from the child's
15:47point of view,
15:47not parents
15:49and teachers.
15:50So I'm going
15:51to share that
15:51at one point
15:52I was heavily
15:53addicted to social
15:54media as well,
15:55which is why,
15:56again,
15:56I wrote that book.
15:58My mother
15:59would intervene
16:01and she disconnected
16:03the desktop
16:03and moved it
16:04two stories down.
16:06I would return home,
16:07I would carry
16:0845 kilos
16:09up two stairs
16:10and reconnect
16:11it so I could
16:13talk to my
16:13friends online.
16:15I have very much
16:16stolen money as well
16:18so I could,
16:18you know,
16:19recharge my SIM card
16:21without my mother
16:22knowing about it.
16:23At that time,
16:26it felt very normal.
16:28It felt very urgent
16:29and it felt very essential.
16:32And the reason
16:32I'm saying that
16:33is that dependency,
16:35it doesn't appear
16:39dramatic on the inside.
16:41On the inside,
16:41it's very normal.
16:43So how do you
16:44then intervene?
16:45You know,
16:45it's not that,
16:46you know,
16:47having done a little
16:48bit of research,
16:49we don't have a parent
16:49here,
16:50but, you know,
16:51you talk to
16:51millennial parents
16:52and we're parenting
16:54gen alpha.
16:55they say,
16:57we are trying,
16:59but they go to school
17:00and then,
17:01you know,
17:01they discover that
17:02there's this thing
17:03and then they come back
17:04and they,
17:04you know,
17:04sort of get angry
17:05with us.
17:06There's a lot of
17:06awareness and
17:08confidence and
17:09sass that they
17:11have to deal with.
17:12So how do they
17:13deal with it?
17:15You know,
17:16I think
17:17one has to
17:19understand
17:19how important
17:21the principle
17:22of frugality
17:23is
17:24in
17:25bringing up
17:26your children.
17:27So the words
17:28that you use,
17:29the millennium
17:30parents,
17:31you know,
17:31the alpha
17:32kids,
17:33who are these
17:33parents?
17:35Means the parents
17:35who have no time,
17:37whose lives
17:38are dictated
17:38by commerce,
17:40are those
17:41who consider
17:42themselves this.
17:44They have no
17:44qualms in spending
17:46their money
17:46in giving
17:47their children
17:48yoga,
17:50purifiers,
17:51because those
17:51are the most
17:52expensive and
17:53best ones,
17:54air-conditioned
17:55homes,
17:56you know,
17:56whatever you
17:57want,
17:58and then you
17:59wonder why
18:00they're giving
18:00sass to you,
18:03you know.
18:03So,
18:04I'm saying
18:06where is
18:08frugality,
18:09you know,
18:09as a concept,
18:10as a core
18:11element of
18:12bringing up
18:13children.
18:15And I'm
18:15also saying
18:16that a lot
18:17of tech
18:18was actually
18:19created by
18:21this world
18:22where there
18:23was some
18:24creativity
18:24going on.
18:26I mean,
18:26like Oppenheimer
18:27said,
18:28you know,
18:28quoting the
18:28Bhagavad Ketana,
18:29that I am
18:30death,
18:31I'm destroyer
18:32of the world.
18:33I am saying,
18:34I am death,
18:35I am the
18:35destroyer of
18:37education.
18:39This is not
18:39education.
18:41This is a
18:42different world
18:43that we are
18:44going for.
18:44As educators,
18:46we are actually
18:47visionaries,
18:48okay,
18:48because we
18:49see down
18:50the years
18:51the kind
18:52of kid
18:53that we
18:53want.
18:55Do we
18:55want a kid
18:56that doesn't
18:57use his
18:57brains at
18:58all?
18:59Whose arms,
19:01limbs and
19:01legs are
19:02actually stunted
19:03because he
19:04doesn't go
19:05out?
19:07Who doesn't
19:07know how to
19:08talk?
19:08Who doesn't
19:09know how to
19:09meet your
19:10eye?
19:11Because all
19:12he has done
19:13is sit.
19:14Because it's
19:14addictive.
19:15Amit has
19:16just talked
19:16about those
19:17things.
19:17How you're
19:18pulled into
19:19this rabbit
19:19hole.
19:20You pull
19:20them in,
19:21give the
19:21kids.
19:22And I
19:23think it's
19:24dangerous for
19:24us educators
19:25to say how
19:27much of
19:27social media
19:28can we
19:29use.
19:30You know,
19:31like now
19:31assignments are
19:32make a
19:33reel,
19:34make a
19:35podcast.
19:36These are
19:37the assignments
19:38where we are
19:38using, you
19:39know, tech
19:40and social
19:41media.
19:42So is that
19:42what we want?
19:43And have
19:45you ever
19:45tried
19:46counseling
19:46parents?
19:47Like what
19:47are the
19:47sort of
19:48responses that
19:49you get from
19:49the parent
19:50community?
19:52Have you
19:52tried talking
19:53to parents
19:54on how to
19:55you know,
19:56sort of
19:56balance out
19:57social media
19:58and how do
19:58they respond?
20:00So, I
20:01mean, if you're
20:02going to bring
20:02up a kid,
20:02you need the
20:03parent on your
20:04side, you
20:04need the
20:05teachers on
20:05your, you
20:06know, child,
20:06parent and
20:07society.
20:08Always tell
20:08parents that
20:09society is out
20:10of our hands.
20:10We have no
20:11control of them.
20:11Let's talk
20:12about people
20:13who we have
20:13control.
20:14So you have
20:14the school
20:14and the
20:15parent.
20:15You have
20:16to pull
20:17in the
20:17parents.
20:18Parents also
20:19because of
20:20various reasons
20:21have a
20:23different idea
20:24of parenting
20:24and they
20:25say they
20:25are helpless.
20:26I might
20:27come back
20:27by 6.30.
20:29You know,
20:29so there is
20:30no play
20:31for the
20:31child.
20:32The child
20:32comes from
20:33school,
20:33he's alone
20:34at home,
20:35he has
20:35got maybe
20:36the maid
20:37is eating,
20:38you know,
20:38food that is
20:39left out there.
20:40But he
20:41doesn't play.
20:44And there
20:44are no,
20:44I mean,
20:45we used to
20:45play on the
20:46streets also.
20:47Now there
20:47are no
20:48streets to
20:48play.
20:49Parks are
20:49taken off.
20:50This is
20:51the deli of
20:52today.
20:53You know,
20:54so where do
20:54the children
20:55play?
20:55Where do
20:56they make?
20:57So you
20:58have to pull
20:58in the
20:59parents,
20:59but then
20:59they'll say
21:00we are
21:01helpless.
21:01You know,
21:04Dr.
21:04San,
21:04I have a
21:06friend who
21:07goes to
21:08therapy and
21:08she has a
21:09problem with
21:10gossiping.
21:11With
21:12gossiping.
21:13And,
21:14you know,
21:14she went to
21:15a therapist
21:16saying that
21:16I have a
21:17problem,
21:18I think I'm
21:18addicted to
21:19gossiping,
21:19what do I
21:20do?
21:21And the
21:22therapist gave
21:22gossiping,
21:23yes.
21:24And the
21:26therapist gave
21:27her a great
21:28trick.
21:28he said
21:29that when
21:31you feel
21:32like gossiping,
21:33take a
21:33breath.
21:35And she's
21:35saying it
21:36helped.
21:37Do you
21:37have some
21:38similar tricks
21:39that parents
21:40can use to
21:41keep the
21:42gadgets away?
21:43Because,
21:43you know,
21:44the thing
21:44is we
21:46work hard
21:47because we
21:47also want to
21:48pamper our
21:49children,
21:49right?
21:50We want to
21:50give them
21:51the air
21:51conditioned
21:51room.
21:53Pamper
21:53what we
21:53do.
21:54We want
21:55to,
21:55you know,
21:55my friend
21:56said she
21:57got a
21:57Ralph
21:57Laron
21:58outfit,
21:58for her
21:59toddler and
21:59said I
21:59want my
22:00baby to
22:01look pretty.
22:02So when
22:03that urge
22:04hits,
22:05what do
22:05they do?
22:06Take a
22:06breath.
22:07I wish
22:08there were
22:08such magic
22:09tricks up
22:11my sleeves.
22:12No,
22:12we don't.
22:13In fact,
22:13one of the
22:13things that
22:14I wanted
22:14to also
22:15touch upon
22:16is that
22:16from a
22:17position of
22:18oftentimes
22:19blaming
22:21parents,
22:22from parent
22:22bashing,
22:23we've moved
22:23on and I
22:24think that
22:24we've realized
22:25that perhaps
22:27they require
22:28some compassion
22:29as well.
22:29We believe
22:30that parents
22:31also do
22:32their best
22:33with the
22:33best of
22:33intentions,
22:34you know,
22:35and sometimes,
22:38perhaps oftentimes,
22:39it goes wrong.
22:40And depending
22:42on many of
22:43these things,
22:44where they're
22:44growing up,
22:45the kind of
22:45sociocultural
22:46background they
22:47come from,
22:48the wiring of
22:48the kid,
22:49the kind of
22:49school they're
22:50going to,
22:50it's important
22:51to sit down
22:51with the
22:52parents,
22:52indeed if they
22:53have stumbled
22:53across something,
22:56to be able
22:56to reflect
22:57and figure
22:58out ways
22:58to work
22:59with kids.
23:01Kids will
23:02do what
23:03they're driven
23:03to do,
23:03like you
23:04said,
23:04that,
23:05you know,
23:05especially
23:06during teenage
23:07years,
23:08there is
23:08curiosity,
23:11wanting to
23:11have fun,
23:13excitement,
23:15learn,
23:16form relationships,
23:17these are
23:18given,
23:19I mean,
23:19these are
23:20things that
23:20every kid
23:21of that age
23:22will want
23:22to do,
23:23and what
23:23they will
23:24choose from
23:24will depend
23:25on what's
23:25available out
23:25there,
23:26isn't it?
23:26And in
23:27today's world,
23:27if these are
23:28the things
23:28that are
23:28available,
23:29that's what
23:29they will
23:29gravitate towards,
23:31and then when
23:31they start
23:32doing it,
23:33we immediately
23:33kind of,
23:34you know,
23:35comment and
23:36label their
23:36behavior as
23:37bad behavior,
23:38or even
23:38manipulative,
23:39then it
23:40seems normal,
23:40like you said,
23:41for children
23:42that's normal,
23:42because that's
23:43what they're
23:43going to do,
23:43and they must
23:44do it to be
23:45able to grow,
23:46to survive even,
23:47right?
23:47And therefore,
23:48it becomes
23:51as adults
23:52to take
23:52responsibility
23:53of what
23:53this world
23:54around them
23:54will look
23:55like.
23:56What is it
23:56that, you
23:57know,
23:57that we are
23:58offering them
23:59as anchors,
24:01as experiences,
24:02as connections,
24:03and if you're
24:04able to do
24:04that properly,
24:05these kids
24:06will grow up
24:06and become
24:06responsible and
24:07have a good
24:08sense of
24:09their selves,
24:09so that they
24:10can give back
24:10to society.
24:11If they do
24:12not, if they
24:12do not have
24:13a sense of
24:13self, they
24:14will go out
24:14and do all
24:15the othering
24:16and the violence
24:17and the riots
24:17out there,
24:18isn't it?
24:19And that's
24:20the key thing,
24:20I mean,
24:20we are
24:21talking about
24:21our, you
24:22know,
24:22our bright
24:22future,
24:23the largest,
24:25you know,
24:25population of
24:26young people
24:26in the world.
24:28What are we
24:28investing for
24:30it?
24:31You know,
24:31if you look
24:31at the annual
24:32budget,
24:33where is the
24:34budget for
24:34the kids
24:35and to develop
24:36these infrastructures
24:37so that they
24:37can turn to
24:38them when they
24:39need it?
24:41That's my
24:41question.
24:41sense, like
24:43Amit is
24:44taking about
24:44care, where
24:46is the care
24:47and empathy
24:48for the
24:49other?
24:49Because the
24:50screen has
24:52the, you
24:53know, I'm
24:54important, I'm
24:55this thing, and
24:56the things that
24:57the screen makes
24:58children do, like
25:00for instance, when
25:01they start a
25:02relationship, now
25:04the children
25:04saying that they
25:05have to send a
25:06topless photo of
25:07themselves, to
25:08the boy, to
25:10show their
25:11commitment to
25:12the relationship.
25:13I mean, now
25:14this photo, taking
25:15it off, and
25:16then parents will
25:17say, haan,
25:17woh bathroom
25:18gai thi, camera
25:19ke saath.
25:20I have said,
25:20apko ne laga ki
25:21pushna chahiye
25:22kik bathroom mein
25:23kyun jaareho
25:24camera ke saath.
25:26I mean,
25:26pata tha, woh
25:27camera ke saath
25:28jaare thi,
25:28bathroom.
25:29So, compassion
25:31is all that you
25:31can give them
25:32actually, you
25:33know, to see how
25:33helpless they seem
25:34to be in this
25:36whole situation.
25:36I am not
25:37trying to sort
25:38of draw a
25:39world that is
25:40terrible.
25:41I am actually
25:42saying, do we
25:43have the courage
25:44as adults, as
25:46parents, to see
25:48what the kid
25:49needs and give
25:50them that?
25:51You love your
25:52kids, you are
25:53working for your
25:54kids, but at the
25:54end of it all,
25:56what do you give
25:57them?
25:58I agree.
25:59No, I think
26:00what you have
26:01said is the
26:03right path
26:03forward.
26:04Not only is it
26:04collaborative, but
26:05also, you do
26:07need to give
26:08children roots to
26:09return back to
26:10from the
26:12virtual world.
26:13In fact, looking
26:13back, I went
26:15online purely
26:17because I was
26:17bored and I
26:18needed companionship.
26:19When I found
26:20that offline, I'm
26:22now offline.
26:24Thank you for
26:25sharing all you
26:25have.
26:26These conversations
26:27are very important
26:27because it's such a
26:29nuanced challenge
26:31that we have to
26:32deal with.
26:32So, thank
26:33you.
26:34Thank you for
26:34your time.
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