66% parents believe children addicted to social media, gaming, finds survey

Majority of parents surveyed believe their children are addicted to social media, over-the-top apps and gaming platforms and more than half have observed behavioural changes in them which include aggression, impatience and lethargy, says a report.

According to a survey of parents of children aged between 9 and 17 years in urban areas, 47 per cent have shared that their wards spend an average of three hours or more every day on social media, videos, over-the-top apps, and online games.

Around 10 per cent of the parents shared their children spend more than six hours on social media, online games and videos, online survey firm LocalCircles said.

"66 per cent of parents of urban Indian children surveyed believe that their children are addicted to social media, OTT or online gaming platforms and 58 per cent of these parents believe that this is leading to increased aggression, impatience and lethargy in children," LocalCircles founder Sachin Taparia said.

The survey was conducted online between August 16 and October 31, 2024, and received over 70,000 responses from parents located in over 368 urban districts of the country, LocalCircles said.

The number of responses to each question differed.

In response to the question on the "emotional or mental impact of social media, videos or OTT and online games" observed on children, 58 per cent out of 13,743 shared that they see "aggressive" behaviour, 49 per cent stated that the children are "impatient", 49 per cent described the children as being 'lethargic', 42 per cent stated that the children are 'depressed', 30 per cent stated that the children are 'hyperactive'.

Besides this, 19 per cent described the children to be 'happier' and 4 per cent of parents stated that the children were 'more social'.

According to the survey report, 66 per cent of urban Indian parents surveyed want the data protection law to ensure that mandatory parental consent is sought for children under 18 when they join social media, OTT or video and online gaming platforms.

33 per cent of urban Indian parents as per the survey believe that India should operationalise mandatory parental consent for children joining social media, OTT and online gaming platforms via Aadhaar authentication.