Digital era!

I was born and brought up in the pre-internet era. Life was completely different for me during my school days. I remember I would crave magazines and books to spend the summer break because television was not 24/7 during those days and I had not even heard of the telephone. I would spend time interacting with elders at my home. I would accompany my grandfather to the vegetable market and grocery stores. Life was completely outdoors. I learnt a lot about the outside world and the art of interacting with everyone.

Now we are living in the digital age, where children are completely engrossed in technology and they are more social on social media than in the actual world. That’s why French President Emmanuel Macron also urged high school pupils on Thursday to switch off their phones and read; even Australia last year banned social media access to children below 15 years. A growing number of European nations are weighing their own restrictions as concerns mount over social media’s impact on the health and safety of minors. Even I strongly feel that children should be encouraged to live in the actual world than the digital world.

Faaz Nadeem,
By email