Digital Mental Health of Adolescents during COVID times: A Global Concern

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Building Mental Health platforms in schools for students, teachers & parents

Webinar 17

Digital Mental Health of Adolescents during COVID times: A Global Concern

The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed the way we live our daily lives. Many of us now work from home, turn to telemedicine to see a doctor, watch more Netflix to stay entertained, and use online communication tools to talk with friends. This resulted in a significant increase in internet usage in 2020. Due to the drastic shift in online classes and lack of outdoor activity, social media has become a catalyst to fulfil Adolescents’ needs & desires. What are its symptoms and warning signs? What are its repercussions on mental health? How can internet be used safely?

This webinar discussed the following:-

1. Internet : abundant source of knowledge for children 2. What motivates them to enter and stay in the cyber world 3. Cyber bullying and Adolescents' Social Identity 4. Social Media Challenges & Games 5. Safe Use of Internet – tips and tricks

Esteemed Panelists:

MR. ARUN SONI Director - TCCS, International Author, Cyber Security Expert, Limca Book of Records Holder

MS. HENA AKHTAR Clinical Psychologist & School Counsellor at DPS, Noida

MS. NIRALI BHATIA Cyber Psychologist & Psychotherapist, Director, V4WEB Technologies Pvt. Ltd., TEDx Speaker, Founder Cyber B.A.A.P

KEY TAKEAWAYS

THE INTERNET DURING COVID TIMES • Cybercrime has risen by 500% during the lockdown targeting children, teenagers and women. • Soon after the online-classes began, teachers and counselors witnessed cyber bullying, aggression, depression and suicidal ideation.

CAUSES OF CYBERCRIMES • People feel that they have complete anonymity behind the screens; this is one of the biggest myths around the internet. • 90% of the times, the perpetrators are people we know in the physical world. • The down fall in the mental health of students due to Bullying and cyber bullying during the lockdown was a worrying cause. • Cyber bullying is of various kinds: somebody might be sending you messages, or may have created a fake profile of you, morphed your picture and posted on social media.

UNDERSTANDING THE MINDSET OF ADOLESCENTS AND DIGITAL ADDICTION • The lack of attention during classes is viewed as a sign of deteriorating mental health. • The cyber space is not physical and therefore the activities carried out here has impacts on our emotional health, thought process, our behaviour and our perception of the world. • The digital world is open to us 24/7 and has no limits to games and challenges making it an addictive space.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Children must also learn the difference between reaction and response. One of the most common behaviour showcased by children is that they do not want their parents to get involved in situations relating to the cyber world, this behaviour needs to change.

AWARENESS AROUND DIGITAL MENTAL HEALTH & CYBERCRIMES • Ethical hackers are only hired to test the codes that have been created for vulnerabilities. The profession has been glamorized so much that is attracting the youth. • We need to introduce prevention through awareness. Workshops around digital health need to be conducted not only for children but also for teachers, parents and all other care givers. • The OTT platforms are designed to be extremely addictive, to de-addict ourselves we need to identify whether we are streaming purely out of boredom, or entertainment or whether there is any other underlying factor. • Children should also understand that they are leaving digital footprints that can be accessed by all and can never be deleted.

SAFE USE OF INTERNET • Parental softwares are freely available, through which the parents can administer and control the phones of a teenager. • Antivirus also helps us in controlling and protecting the devices. • The webcam must be blocked to avoid hacking. • Updating applications immediately helps us avoid vulnerabilities of the system. • Self-restriction, discipline and control help a lot in monitoring our behaviour on social media. • There is a simple thumb rule for good behaviour on social media which is being polite and always remember that everything we see on social media does not need our reaction. • If one is facing any form of cyber bullying, they should try to resolve the matter with that person if this is not possible then they should report it to the cyber cell on www.cybercrime.gov.in.

ROLES OF PARENTS AND EDUCATORS • Students and teenagers are the biggest users of technology and parents and teachers

KEY TAKEAWAYS

cannot monitor them due to lack of awareness. Symptoms can also be spotted to understand if a child is facing cyber bullying. Students should be made to understand the shift from physical to digital as a learning instead of looking at it as an impact of the COVID imposed lockdown. Parents should not leave everything to schools, they must also look after their child’s internet usage. Schools must create an open channel for communication, especially for young girls. They must send out strong messages condemning sexual harassment

SURVEY FINDINGS

While more than 16% of the audience believes prohibiting internet use among children is the solution for eradicating the evils of cyber world, close to 55% believe it isn’t and nearly 29% are unsure. Close to 87% of the audience feels that the internet/cyber world is beneficial as well as dangerous for a child, 5% thinks it only dangerous while 8% thinks it is beneficial. As many as 90% of the individuals feel that internet use affects the child’s social identity. 30.85% of the participants monitor their internet usage daily, 23.42% rarely monitor it, 37.71% monitor it periodically and 8% never monitor their internet usage. 16% of the audience admitted to have experienced cyber bullying whereas 13.7% is unsure and 70% has not been a victim of cyber bullying. 93.7% of the audience agreed that cyber world can negatively affect the mental health of an adolescent.