1)what was the motive behind starting the internet de-addiction center?

-Actually, we are working in the field of youth development since last many years, When we were
visiting various colleges for creating awareness about drugs and addiction, many teachers suggested
us that we should do something about this growing menace ie: internet addiction. when we talked
and did a survey of youth from various walks of life, we realised the graveness of this problem and
decided to work towards tackling it.

2)why do you think of all age groups, the youth are more prone to this addiction?

- the pure reason behind this is that the youth cannot differentiate between the real and virtual
worlds. the boundaries are getting blurred for them, everybody wants to keep connected via social
media, and they have this big fear of missing out if they don't remain present continuously online.

also, the worst part about this is that they are trying to put up an altogether different identity on
social media. They are pretending to be someone that they are not in reality. They fuel this delusion
of theirs by putting up fake names, fake DPs.

unfortunately the virtual and real has to clash somewhere, and this, in turn, is creating serious
psychological problems.

3)What does your centre do to help youth get de-addicted of the internet?

-Our Anandvan youth organisation has carried out a survey amongst youth in Pune. The age group of
these youths is in the need of internet deaddiction help. On 18th November 2018, we started
Manovikas internet deaddiction center. in just a few months we have almost 100 youth who came
for treatment. However, I am sure more and more people will come forward if we can remove the
social stigma attached to the word 'addiction'.

4)Do you have any special advice for parents?

- what we are witnessing is utter lack of dialogue/communication between parents and children.
Parents must try to communicate more often with such children, try to be their friends. I would
suggest that you should be involved even in their social media activities .in in this way, you will come
to know about their friends in the virtual world, and of course their behavior on social media. it will
help you know your children better.

And of course, parents should not spend excessive time on the internet themselves! fixing a
particular 'screentime ' for ourselves helps. no television, mobile or computer after this 'screen
time'.This will set an example for your children.

5)How does internet addiction affect our social life?

- nowadays it is not an uncommon sight to see people engrossed in their respective gadgets even at
public functions, in the presence of their friends and relatives, instead of interacting with others by
meeting them or speaking with them , we prefer interaction with people thousands of miles away,
whom we have never seen in our lives. This, in turn, forbids us from procuring real-life relations
which are based on trust warmth and affection.
6)What does part gaming play in screen addiction?

-nowadays, There is a huge spurt in gaming activities in India. School going children and youth
mostly involved in games like PUBG, ludo etc, these games demand a huge amount of time and
constant attention. This is creating a lot of stress and lack of focus amongst youth.

Constantly staring at screens is creating eyesight ailments, from an early age.

Tough these games are most popular in youth, I will say that other age groups are also not
unaffected by this. Even housewives fall prey to games like 'candy crush ' and get addicted.

Research has proved that these games can make people over aggressive, demanding and devoid of
sympathy to others.

7)How will you describe the ill effects of such addictions on health?

- Excessive consumption of time on screen takes a toll on your health, sleeping late warrants that we
will not get necessary sleep and our body clock is getting affected.

Lack of physical activity or exercise makes us feel dull and lethargic.

People suffer from irritation and emotional imbalance.

8)so how would you suggest the way to strike a proper balance in our virtual and real life?

-Nobody denies the immense benefits, the internet has brought in. Even youth and students are
hugely helped by the internet. However, we must restrict the over-dependence on it. there is no
alternative to real life relations. There is no need to remain connected 24X7 in the virtual world.
Ration your time judiciously. Allow yourself a fixed screen time per day. invest more time in reality, it
pays.