Not just children.

 "Over 90% of rural children in the 14-18 years age group have a smartphone in their home...and are on social media, according to the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2023." TOI. "A 2024 survey conducted by Localcircles found that around 50% of urban Indian parents admit that their children, aged 9 to 17. are addicted to videos, gaming and social media," wrote V Anantha Nageswaran & Shruti Singh. "A 2025 AIIMS study reveals that children under 5 have an average screen time of 2.2 hours, twice the WHO recommended limit." Perhaps, studies should seek to find what percentage of parents are addicted to smartphones or use them to keep their children occupied while they work. A report by EY states "that on average, Indians spend 5 hours a day on their phones, with 69% spent on social media, films, entertainment, music and gaming." Professor of Physics at Delhi University, Shobhit Mahajan found that "most students were now relying on YouTube instead of reading books for learning." "The Covid-19 pandemic forced most education to move online." This was disastrous because, "This Instagram generation spends a large fraction of their time viewing reels on their phones. Their attention span is, by default, limited to a few minutes." Perhaps, as a result, "The Economic Survey 2023-24, presented in Parliament,..reveals that only 51.25% of India's graduates are deemed employable." India Today. "One recent report found that adults in the US check their phones, on average, 344 times a day - once every four minutes - and spend almost three hours a day on their devices in total." BBC. According to a study, "Smartphone use by children younger than 13 was associated with suicidal thoughts, worse emotional regulation, lower self-worth and detachment from reality, especially among girls." And also sleep disruptions, cyberbullying and negative family relationships. CNN. People are developing emotional relationship with GPT-4o "Through a psychological phenomenon called anthropomorphization, users could attribute human-like qualities to the chatbot and begin to liken it to a real person." pace.edu. "A comprehensive study of 466 users who regularly engage with ChatGPT develop significant emotional attachments to the AI system, sometimes leading to what researchers describe as 'emotional dependence'." Science Blog. For the first time in the world, in November 2024, "Australia will ban children under 16 from using social media, after its parliament approved the world's strictest laws. The ban, which will not take effect for at least 12 months, could see tech companies fined up to A$50 million if they don't comply." BBC. In India telecommunication was provided only by government companies till 1999. Once private companies were allowed to offer services, the service boomed, until today even the poorest Indian owns a smartphone. iPleaders. "Two-thirds of Indian households owned a television in 2024." "Nearly half of Indian households had a refrigerator by 2024." Data for India. But, every household today owns at least one smartphone. Perhaps, adults have to be cured of their addiction. To protect children.