Have you ever wondered how kids nowadays are?  When I say how kids nowadays are, I mean how their behaviour and lifestyle are so different from the generation when social media wasn’t this popular. I feel social media and the internet’s exposure to young children is destroying their minds. 

Recently, I visited my hometown, stayed with my younger cousins for a few days, and observed a few things. When I was talking to them, I noticed how their habits, choices and likings were so different compared to my generation of kids, when I say my generation it’s because I’m a Gen-Z and my cousins are Gen Alpha.

I observed how they were extremely influenced by the internet which was not so surprising since it’s not only them but everyone who has a smartphone, obviously there are exceptions as well. I’ve seen people being stuck to their smartphones or digital devices and getting so addicted that when someone tries to take their devices away, they get aggressive. 

I think we all can agree that social media platforms are made to be engaging. Their algorithms study a user’s likes and dislikes and display their choices on the user’s feed, which in return makes the user want to use the application more and slowly get so used to it that not using it makes them feel incomplete, which later turns into addiction. 

At this rate, we all know that everyone is in some way or another dependent on the internet. It has become somewhat of a necessity at this point. When I observed how my cousins behaved compared to how my group of people behaved when we were their age, I felt so old. Similarly, the age gap was felt by my elder cousins when they observed me and compared their lives as kids with mine. In my opinion dependence on the internet has widened the gap between the generations and this can be felt by many of us when we see someone older or younger than us but this all is a part of life in a way. 

All things have their pros and cons and the same thing is applied to social media but since here we are talking about kids, there are more cons than pros. For kids under 15, having access to social media can be perilous. Young kids can be easily manipulated and I think that the fact about how social media isn’t filled with the most right-minded people, it’ll be right to assume how much danger lies in letting a young kid have access to something where he or she still hasn’t developed enough maturity to comprehend what exactly they are doing, even if some people argue about how there are parental control on social media apps which provide parents with the control over what their child is consuming on the internet, we need to understand that even after when age restrictions are put on, at this time and era even children’s content’s quality is so poor that it’s better if they don’t consume that at all. 

At this point, even children’s content is not up to the mark, the content is not entertaining but rather of extremely low quality and value. Which in return simply fills the child’s mind with nonsense. If we think about it properly the internet is such a dangerous place. Let’s just get an overview of some cons of the internet.

It is usually not a safe place for kids but it can be the same for grown-ups as well if not used with some precautions as we all know cybercrime is at an all-time high with over 740,000 cases registered on the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (14C) in 2024 and this was the registered amount think about the unregistered ones.

Deepfake is also a big source of difficulty, we’ve all seen a deepfake somewhere the other in the form of memes or some kind of defaming video viral on social media platforms. For those who don’t know what deepfakes are, they are a video, image, etc. in which a person’s face, body, or voice has been digitally altered so that they appear to be someone else, typically used maliciously or to spread false information.

Trolls; anyone who spends a decent amount of time be it a kid or an adult must have encountered trolls who are mean or abusive people, these people tend to be mannerless and mean since the internet’s anonymity gives them the leverage to act in any way, they want which also raises concerns of cyberbullying.

Stalking is also one issue for people who share a lot of information online, some creepy people may discover details about you and stalk you.  18+ images and videos or violent images exist and how easily they can be accessed by anyone regarding their age is a matter of concern, especially for kids under 18 who have access to the internet.  

There are even more problems regarding social media. The excessive use of the internet is not only causing addiction. Still, it is also ruining people’s mental and physical health since overuse of phones makes people stay in one place for hours which is not good for the body and I think that everyone knows that excessive use of digital devices harms our eyes. 

With these many issues of social media and the internet, I think it’s safe to say that not every part of the internet is secure but in this technology-infused world it would be highly impractical not to use it completely, so, most we can do is at least make sure that kids under 15 have no access to social media, here we can mention Australia’s effort on banning social media for kids under 16, a very appreciative move to ensure that kids don’t fall victims to useless trends and live and experience childhood. It’s important to understand that every coin has its two sides, not everything about social media is bad but not everything is good as well stricter restrictions should be put on the internet at least for kids so they don’t fall for anything harmful.

Aashima Singh, Ahmedabad-based Independent Commentator & a student of 11th standard. Have you ever wondered how kids nowadays are?  When I say how kids nowadays are, I mean how their behaviour and lifestyle are so different from the generation when social media wasn’t this popular. I feel social media and the internet’s exposure to young children is destroying their minds. 

Recently, I visited my hometown, stayed with my younger cousins for a few days, and observed a few things. When I was talking to them, I noticed how their habits, choices and likings were so different compared to my generation of kids, when I say my generation it’s because I’m a Gen-Z and my cousins are Gen Alpha.

I observed how they were extremely influenced by the internet which was not so surprising since it’s not only them but everyone who has a smartphone, obviously there are exceptions as well. I’ve seen people being stuck to their smartphones or digital devices and getting so addicted that when someone tries to take their devices away, they get aggressive. 

I think we all can agree that social media platforms are made to be engaging. Their algorithms study a user’s likes and dislikes and display their choices on the user’s feed, which in return makes the user want to use the application more and slowly get so used to it that not using it makes them feel incomplete, which later turns into addiction. 

At this rate, we all know that everyone is in some way or another dependent on the internet. It has become somewhat of a necessity at this point. When I observed how my cousins behaved compared to how my group of people behaved when we were their age, I felt so old. Similarly, the age gap was felt by my elder cousins when they observed me and compared their lives as kids with mine. In my opinion dependence on the internet has widened the gap between the generations and this can be felt by many of us when we see someone older or younger than us but this all is a part of life in a way. 

All things have their pros and cons and the same thing is applied to social media but since here we are talking about kids, there are more cons than pros. For kids under 15, having access to social media can be perilous. Young kids can be easily manipulated and I think that the fact about how social media isn’t filled with the most right-minded people, it’ll be right to assume how much danger lies in letting a young kid have access to something where he or she still hasn’t developed enough maturity to comprehend what exactly they are doing, even if some people argue about how there are parental control on social media apps which provide parents with the control over what their child is consuming on the internet, we need to understand that even after when age restrictions are put on, at this time and era even children’s content’s quality is so poor that it’s better if they don’t consume that at all. 

At this point, even children’s content is not up to the mark, the content is not entertaining but rather of extremely low quality and value. Which in return simply fills the child’s mind with nonsense. If we think about it properly the internet is such a dangerous place. Let’s just get an overview of some cons of the internet.

It is usually not a safe place for kids but it can be the same for grown-ups as well if not used with some precautions as we all know cybercrime is at an all-time high with over 740,000 cases registered on the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (14C) in 2024 and this was the registered amount think about the unregistered ones.

Deepfake is also a big source of difficulty, we’ve all seen a deepfake somewhere the other in the form of memes or some kind of defaming video viral on social media platforms. For those who don’t know what deepfakes are, they are a video, image, etc. in which a person’s face, body, or voice has been digitally altered so that they appear to be someone else, typically used maliciously or to spread false information.

Trolls; anyone who spends a decent amount of time be it a kid or an adult must have encountered trolls who are mean or abusive people, these people tend to be mannerless and mean since the internet’s anonymity gives them the leverage to act in any way, they want which also raises concerns of cyberbullying.

Stalking is also one issue for people who share a lot of information online, some creepy people may discover details about you and stalk you.  18+ images and videos or violent images exist and how easily they can be accessed by anyone regarding their age is a matter of concern, especially for kids under 18 who have access to the internet.  

There are even more problems regarding social media. The excessive use of the internet is not only causing addiction. Still, it is also ruining people’s mental and physical health since overuse of phones makes people stay in one place for hours which is not good for the body and I think that everyone knows that excessive use of digital devices harms our eyes. 

With these many issues of social media and the internet, I think it’s safe to say that not every part of the internet is secure but in this technology-infused world it would be highly impractical not to use it completely, so, most we can do is at least make sure that kids under 15 have no access to social media, here we can mention Australia’s effort on banning social media for kids under 16, a very appreciative move to ensure that kids don’t fall victims to useless trends and live and experience childhood. It’s important to understand that every coin has its two sides, not everything about social media is bad but not everything is good as well stricter restrictions should be put on the internet at least for kids so they don’t fall for anything harmful.

Aashima Singh, Ahmedabad-based Independent Commentator & a student of 11th standard at DPS Bopal. Views are personal.