Adityanath calls for weekly smartphone-free day to curb children’s screen time

Addressing a gathering at the Gorakhnath temple here on the occasion of Guru Purnima, Adityanath said parents should avoid handing smartphones to young children, claiming many were spending five to six hours a day on screens. He said prolonged smartphone use was weakening children’s eyesight, reducing their ability to think and exposing them to stress and depression.

Highlighting Uttar Pradesh’s status as the country’s largest repository of ancient manuscripts and historical artefacts, chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday stressed the need to preserve and digitise India’s intellectual heritage, saying neglecting the country’s centuries-old knowledge could allow others to appropriate it and use it against national interests. He also urged parents to limit children’s smartphone use, warning that excessive screen time was affecting their physical and mental health.

CM Yogi Adityanath urged parents to limit children’s smartphone use, warning that excessive screen time was affecting their physical and mental health. (File)

Addressing a gathering at the Gorakhnath temple here on the occasion of Guru Purnima, Adityanath said parents should avoid handing smartphones to young children, claiming many were spending five to six hours a day on screens. He said prolonged smartphone use was weakening children’s eyesight, reducing their ability to think and exposing them to stress and depression.

“Parents who have handed smartphones to small children are not doing the right thing. Children are spending five to six hours on smartphones every day. It is weakening their eyesight, reducing their thinking ability and pushing them towards stress and depression. In several cases, they are even taking extreme steps,” he said.

Calling for a behavioural change within families, the chief minister suggested that every household observe one smartphone-free day each week and gradually reduce daily screen time. “There should be one day every week when no smartphone is used. The duration of smartphone use should be reduced gradually. The world functioned even before smartphones existed, and people were healthier, with far less stress and conflict,” he said.

Referring to a review of the digitisation drive at Sampurnanand Sanskrit University, he said the institution alone has nearly one lakh manuscripts. He emphasised that preserving and digitising these invaluable records was essential to safeguarding India’s intellectual and cultural heritage.

Adityanath said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had secured global recognition for yoga through the International Day of Yoga, while India’s sages had preserved centuries of knowledge, innovation and research by documenting them for future generations.

Describing Guru Purnima as a sacred occasion to express gratitude to the Guru-Shishya tradition, Adityanath paid tributes to Maharishi Ved Vyasa for preserving and documenting India’s Vedic and Puranic knowledge. He said parents, teachers, elder siblings and everyone from whom one learns are also gurus and must fulfil their responsibility of guiding society through present-day challenges.