Karnataka to ban social media for under-16s: Psychiatrist explains mental health benefits

The most immediate benefit of social media curfews (such as China’s 10 pm to 6 am “minor mode”) is the recovery of REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. In adolescents, the blue light and dopamine pings of social media are stimulants that suppress the sleep hormone melatonin. Curfews essentially provide a mandatory wind-down period that aligns with biological needs. A 2026 report in the journal Pediatrics noted that children in regions with strict evening digital boundaries showed a 14% increase in sleep duration and a significant reduction in “latency to sleep” (the time it takes to fall asleep).

National curfews reduce the “fear of missing out” (FOMO). When a curfew is localized to one home, the child feels social anxiety about what peers are saying. When it is a national standard, the social marketplace “closes,” allowing the brain to exit a state of hyper-vigilance. Besides, once you know you cannot reach out to a social feed, children report higher scores in tasks requiring sustained attention.

Longitudinal data from The Lancet Regional Health (2025) suggests that limiting access during high-vulnerability hours (late night) correlates with a decreased risk of suicidal ideation and depressive symptoms linked to overnight cyberbullying.

What are the pitfalls of curfew hours and why they should be graded?

While curfews successfully reduce social media harms (like cyberbullying and upward social comparison), children often pivot to other digital stimuli if not guided. A Brookings (2025) analysis of national restrictions found that while social media use dropped, some cohorts increased time spent on offline gaming or “unregulated” platforms. This suggests that a curfew is most effective when paired with physical substitution — like community sports or library access.

Curfews act as an external “emotional regulator” for children who have not yet developed the prefrontal cortex (the brain’s command centre) to self-limit. This reduces the friction between parents and children—moving the “bad guy” role from the parent to the policy.

What should parents do to keep the momentum at home?

The goal isn’t to ban technology, but to grade it. Second, create a physical space that dictates behaviour. If a child studies in the same space they play video games, “attentional blink” occurs — the brain is primed for dopamine, not discipline. Designate a social space that is devoid of chargers and screens. Use physical tools: a paper planner, a desk lamp, and a physical dictionary.

Implement “delayed gratification” protocols. Practise the “20-Minute Rule.” If a child wants to check their phone, they must first engage in 20 minutes of a low-stimulation task (reading/writing).

A 2018 study in the journal ‘Child Development by McDaniel & Radesky’, found that “technostress”—interruptions in parent-child interactions caused by mobile devices — is directly linked to increased behavioural outbursts and lower emotional regulation in children. Children are biologically wired for mimicry via mirror neurons. If a parent “scrolls” while listening to a child, they are teaching “fragmented attention.” Create a “digital sunset.” At a specific hour, all family devices (including parents’) are placed in a central charging station. This signals to the nervous system that the “performance” part of the day is over and “integration” has begun. Keep a “living library” at home. When a child has a question, reach for a physical book or encyclopaedia before Googling. Have the child study two different subjects in one sitting using physical books. The act of physically switching books helps the brain “re-encode” the information.

How do handwriting, taking notes physically and going to libraries enhance learning ability?

There is a clear “cognitive erosion” as we move further from tactile learning. Returning to handwriting, physical libraries and traditional processing isn’t nostalgia; it is biologically superior for deep encoding. A seminal 2014 study in ‘Psychological Science’ found that students who took long-hand notes performed significantly better on conceptual questions than those who used laptops, as laptop users tended to transcribe speech verbatim without processing it. When you type, you are performing a simple, repetitive motor task (pressing a key). When you write by hand, you execute complex, unique strokes for every letter. This “haptic” engagement signals the brain that this specific information is high-priority. Handwriting forces “desirable difficulty.” Because you cannot write as fast as a professor speaks, you are forced to synthesize, summarize and prioritize information in real-time.

Digital information is “homogenized”—every PDF looks the same on a screen. Physical libraries provide spatial and contextual cues. The weight of a book, the smell of the paper, and the physical act of walking to a specific shelf create a “spatial map” in the brain. Memory is highly associative. By tying information to a physical location and a tangible object, you create multiple “hooks” for retrieval.

A study in 2012 in the ‘Journal of Research on Reading’ indicated that “screen inferiority”—the tendency to skim rather than read deeply on digital devices—is absent when reading physical print, which encourages more rigorous metacognitive monitoring. Libraries are designed for monotasking. In a digital environment, the “cost of switching” tasks is near zero, which fragments the attention span.

How can disconnecting social media during school hours lead to better digital hygiene?

Constant notifications trigger a state of continuous partial attention. By removing the “switch cost”—the cognitive drain that occurs when toggling between a lecture and a feed — students can easily transition from superficial processing to deep, associative learning.

Heavy multitasking with media is associated with lower grey matter density in the brain area responsible for emotional and cognitive control. Disconnecting during school hours breaks the compulsion to check for “likes” or messages, allowing the brain’s reward system to recalibrate to slower, more sustainable stimuli, such as social problem-solving or complex reading.

A 2018 study in the ‘Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology’ concluded that limiting social media use to 30 minutes a day resulted in significant decreases in loneliness and depression over a three-week period.

The school environment is already high-pressure. Social media adds a layer of “digital social surveillance.” A daytime hiatus provides a sanctuary from the curated lives of others, reducing cortisol levels and preventing the emotional exhaustion associated with constant social upward comparison.