2019. The world stopped. COVID-19 pushed us indoors, and everything — work, school, friendships, even birthdays — shifted online. For many, it was a crash course in digital survival. We had no choice but to adapt. Students attended classes through glowing rectangles, professionals turned living rooms into offices, and families learned to stay “connected” while being more disconnected than ever.
Fast forward to 2025. We did adapt. In fact, we became too comfortable. Technology isn’t just part of our lives anymore — it is our life. From schooling to shopping, everything happens through an app, a screen, or a login ID.
And now, we’re being forced to stay there.
The Bright Side: A Burst of Digital Creativity
Let’s give credit where it’s due.
The digital wave did open up incredible opportunities. People discovered new ways to work, earn, and express themselves. Creativity flourished — from online art classes to home-based entrepreneurs, technology gave voice to countless dreams. Startups mushroomed, freelancers found independence, and remote work reshaped what “career” even meant.
The digital world did what it promised — it empowered.
The Dark Side: When Screens Start Raising Our Children
But there’s another side — a darker one.
Children, the most impressionable beings among us, are paying the price for our digital dependence. The behavioral shifts are alarming:
- Reduced interest in real conversations.
- Heightened irritability and attention issues.
- Diminished physical activity.
- Escalating eye strain, neurological concerns, and emotional detachment.
We’re seeing children who can swipe before they can write, and who know how to skip ads but not how to hold a conversation.
And the repercussions go far beyond mere screen addiction. Online fraud, cyberbullying, toxic content — even disturbing self-harm trends — are now everyday realities.
Parents are fighting an uphill battle, trying to shield their children from an online world that seems determined to pull them in deeper.
A Personal Glimpse: When a 4-Year-Old Gets a Login ID
My son is turning four in a few days. He loves his 50+ physical books — his bedtime stories, his “milk-time” reading sessions, and the warmth of listening to those tales in his parents’ voices.
Yes, he does watch TV during meals — something we’re working hard to limit (some days successfully, some not). But I take comfort in knowing that his stories still come from books he can touch, not screens that flash.
That comfort, however, was shaken recently when his school sent a message — on WhatsApp, of course — sharing login details for a new reading app.
It promised “leveled reading,” “interactive storytelling,” and “progress tracking.” Sounds fancy, right?
Except… he’s four.
He doesn’t need quizzes. He doesn’t need assessments. He needs imagination, not algorithms.
He can already recall stories, describe characters, and relive moments from his books — not because an app told him to, but because he felt them.
The App Economy: When Every Idea Becomes a Screen
Somewhere in a tech hub, someone probably thought, “Let’s build an app that brings stories to children!”
And just like that, another startup was born.
The idea sounds noble — millions of stories available at the click of a button. But here’s the catch: schools, desperate to appear “modern” and “digital,” lap these ideas up without considering their impact on real childhood learning.
Instead of supporting teachers who bring learning to life through songs, dance, crafts, and storytelling, schools are outsourcing imagination to apps.
The Question We Must Ask: What Are We Gaining, and What Are We Losing?
- Can an app replicate the warmth of a mother’s storytelling voice?
- Can it capture the joy of a teacher dancing with her students under open skies while teaching rhymes?
- Can it replace the excitement of flipping through a real book?
The answer, we all know, is no.
COVID-19 made screens a necessity. But that time is gone. Why are we still chaining our youngest children to devices when their eyes, minds, and hearts are yearning for the real world?
Across the world, parents and educators are trying to revive libraries, storytelling circles, and hands-on learning. Yet schools — the very institutions meant to nurture curiosity — are often the ones pushing children further into the digital abyss.
It’s time to pause and ask: in our race toward “digitalization,” are we robbing our children of their most precious gift — their childhood?
Spare the young ones.
Let them read books that smell of paper and ink.
Let them listen to stories told with love, not coded into apps.
Because long after the screens go dark, it’s those real moments — the laughter, the imagination, the bonding — that truly light up a child’s world.
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Image Courtesy: Photo by Jelleke Vanooteghem on Unsplash
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