Constant confinement at home and spending more time in front of mobile-phone and computer screens during the pandemic has changed human behavioural patterns, a phenomenon from which even children haven’t been spared.
Online gaming emerged as a coping mechanism for children and students, especially those who lacked friendly interactions with their peers offline, in the wake of COVID-19.
It has also had an adverse influence on the behavioural patterns of adolescents, as illustrated by a six-year-old who attacked his mother for stopping him from playing online games like PUBG.
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Experts say the addictive world of mobile-phone and computer screens is gradually affecting the cognitive ability of young children. They warn that the bigger challenge is to deal with the aggressive tendencies that children are developing as a result of excessive exposure to online gaming.
“Online gaming addiction has led to a lack of focus and concentration, which has further resulted in a huge upsurge of restlessness, leading to aggression and bullying among adolescents,” said Dr. Ameeta Mulla Wattal, executive director, DLF Foundation Schools.
“The games stimulate the brain in such a manner that the child gets eventually addicted to constantly playing violent games and such patterns permeate into behaviour, leading to aggression and mood swings,” she said.
Aggression among regular gamers
Dr. Manoj Sharma, coordinator of India’s first Service for Healthy Use of Technology (SHUT) clinic at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), said post-COVID, there has been an increase of 30 to 40 percent in cases of aggressive behaviour by children addicted to online games.
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“Earlier, we witnessed seven to eight cases of children with aggressive behaviour having the habit of playing online games for over eight to 10 hours a day; now after COVID, there is a rise of 30 to 40 percent in such cases visiting SHUT clinic,” Dr. Sharma added.
Dr Sharma, a professor of clinical psychology, said COVID-19 has increased children’s accessibility to devices on which they play video games to stay connected with their friends.
“Online games like PUBG don’t require any specific skill set, adolescent of any age can play them. It involves challenges and rewards them for accomplishing it. These children consider video games as a way out to cope with life situations, enjoy time with friends, deal with their suppressed anger etc,” he said.
Need for a regulatory framework
National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) chairperson Priyank Kanoongo said an effective regulatory mechanism to decide whether dangerous games like PUBG should be allowed in India is the need of the hour.
“A panel for the formation of a regulatory framework should be formed in India. This can be constituted having different stakeholders: child psychologists, teachers, parent representatives and others to ensure children’s safety,” he said. Also read: COVID case rise concerning but no reason to panic: NTAGI's NK Arora
Kanoongo recently sought a response from the Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, on how PUBG, which had been banned in India, is still available in the country.
More screentime, greater the psychological impact
Dr Sathish Girimaji, former director of NIMHANS, blamed exponential screen use for scarring children psychologically. Also read: Can continuous glucose monitoring devices help you lose weight?
“Not just online gaming, constant and excessive exposure to screens and their use affects the psychology of children. The screen usage has increased exponentially during the COVID19. Being confined within the four walls of their homes during the pandemic has taken the situation from bad to worse,” he said.
Dr. Girimaji, who was also senior professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at NIMHANS, said exposure to violent video games had a minor connection to adolescent aggression.
“The kind of skillset that the children were supposed to pick up, otherwise, didn’t happen as the screen exposure increased social isolation. All of this has had a negative impact on their psyche,” he said.
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