'1-Hour Screen Time, Age-Appropriate Phones': Karnataka Govt Releases Draft Policy On Responsible Digital Use Among Students

Bengaluru: The Karnataka government has released the draft policy of responsible digital use among students under the age of 16, suggesting the schools to constitute a Digital Wellness Committee to frame and enforce a digital use policy in their respective schools.

The draft policy has recommended limiting the recreational screen time of not more than one hour per day outside the schoolwork and introducing tech curfew (all screens off) one hour before bedtime.

The draft policy followed Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's announcement in his budget speech that the government would ban social media use for children below 16 year of age. In the Legislative Assembly, Primary and Secondary Education Minister Madhu Bangarappa said that his department was also studying various modules adopted in foreign countries to curb digital usage among students.

The policy has been drafted by involving the Health and Family Welfare Department, NIMHANS, Education Department, 60 professionals from educational institutions, university representatives and cyber crime department. The policy has made it mandatory for the schools to come up with protocols against cyberbullying or digital misconduct and list out the role of teachers in moderating the digital exposure and counselling students on safe digital use.

The policy suggested that a National Digital Health Mission should be created to monitor and provide a framework for healthy use of technology and encourage schools to adopt traditional methods of communication instead of direct WhatApp contact with students and implement a `Diary system' of communication.

The schools should create a digital wellness committee comprising Principal, Vice Principal, counsellor or mental health professional, designated teacher, parents representatives, students representative and cyber crime police officials. The schools should collaborate with digital technology and media industries for ethical content development and a certified age limit for digital media use.

The police have suggested developing age appropriate phones/devices for children and OS updates for devices as they grow older and developing a special `child plan' for phones with audio-only option and stopping data use by 7 pm.

The parents are advised to facilitate more peer interactions and conversations without screens via offline play, group reading and other activities. Before introducing technology to a child, parents must set a timer, a profile for kids to use and review the content regularly, the policy suggested.