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It is an era of iPods, iPhones, iMacs and iTablets and for the technically-savvy iGeneration the concept of communication means texting, Orkut-ing, Facebook-ing, Skype-ing, tweeting, and anything but talking face-to-face. It could also mean that this generation is all about connection and communication, but the communication is mostly electronic.

So if the recent trend of teens getting closer to various media and spending all day with their gadgets, is anything to go by, then teens spend at least 18 hours per day with technology leaving parents perennially complaining about the lack of interaction.
“It saves time and it is a fast way to stay in touch with friends and parents when you are out for school, coaching classes or just anything. I think Facebook and Orkut are a bliss in an age where you are always running against time and don’t have much of it for face-to-face meetings,” says Anupriya Sen, a Class 12 student.
Shweta Jain, who is appearing for Class 10 Board exams this year spends plenty of time on her laptop, texts her friends almost 24X7 and says she feels anxious if she doesn’t do so. She says, “I am not too happy about it though, still I think we’ve almost reached that point now from where there is no getting away from it. I need to update and get updates from my friends about what we are up to.”
Parents, obviously worried, think it’s an unhealthy trend which keeps their kids glued to their cellphones and computers. Ranjana Sharma, a mother of teenaged son feels it has something to do with peer pressure.
“He has to keep up with his fellow teens in school and tuition classes. Once he is home, he immediately logs on to the computer and keeps busy the entire evening. Children these days mostly keep to themselves and hardly come out to discuss things with parents and try and avoid if their parents try to initiate any kind of conversation,” adds Ranjana.
Psychiatrists fear that too much of browsing the Internet or playing games can make them prone to aggressive behaviour. “Parents should make their children sit and talk to them. Unaware youngsters are just accumulating stress which is the root cause of anger,” stresses Dr Rajat Mitra.
 

Nidhi Sethi
The Asian Age