"Do school children need to be taught about the ill effects of mobile usage?"
Well, not really.
During a ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ๐๐ต๐ผ๐ฝ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ Sankalpa For Change with 8th and 9th grade students at a government school, we asked this very question. And what we heard was truly eye-opening.
Without any prompting, the children responded:
โข Eye pain
- โข Hand strain
- โข Loss of focus
- โข Wasted time
- โข Headaches
- โข And one even warned โ "It can be dangerous if a mobile bursts!"
They also spoke about addiction.
When we flipped the question and asked about the benefits of mobile phones, they shared:
โข Access to class notes
- โข Learning new skills or concepts
Their conclusion was simple yet wise: "It's just a tool. Use common sense, set a timer, and stick to the purpose."
We went in thinking we'd teach something. But we walked out realizing we have learnt more, that children are already aware.
What they really need is not more instructions, but safe spaces to think aloud, share, and be heard.
This workshop was co-facilitated by our wonderful team โ Reshma S Bhat, Divya Hariprasad, Shubha Dayanand, and Jayashree Gururaj โ and it reaffirmed why we do what we do at Sankalpa For Change.
Let's continue ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น๐ผ๐ด๐๐ฒ, not just direction.
Because sometimes, the best lessons come from those we aim to teach.