Impact of COVID-19 on mobile phone user among youths in Manipur

Rajendra Kshetri & Achom Roshan Kumar
Contd from prev issue
Another disturbing aspect of the online class relates to the question of affordability. Do all the parents have the resources enough to buy smartphones for their children’s online classes? This may not be an issue for some but for others it may be the sky falling over their heads. The family income of people in Manipur differs widely. As a matter of fact, it is well known that the income gap is widening and vastly different between urban and rural, the hilly areas and interior parts of the state. Some of my own students strongly oppose to the idea of virtual class basically because many of them cannot afford to own a smartphone, and that internet/data connectivity in remote areas particularly the hill districts is poor and irregular. For someone living in the heart of Imphal city, this may sound absurd and even strange. But this is the truth, for in some remote corner of the state sometimes facts are stranger than fiction.  It may be pertinent to reproduce here a story that goes viral recently about a poor father in rural India who could not purchase a smartphone for his daughter’s online class. In his last ditch effort, he sold his goat, the only means of his income to pool enough money for the smartphone. Thus, rather than mitigating the problem of no classes for our children, virtual class may actually aggravate the problem of education and enhance class as well as digital divide.
Most of us, teachers, are also taken by surprise since almost all are not trained or are prepared to impart teaching through the online mode. Thus there are inadequacies in all departments of online teaching at present, yet one can only say that this is a good beginning, the first step towards a new direction. The number of hours spent on mobile phone use among school and college going youth seems to be longer during the lockdown. A few of our students to whom we talked to over the phone informed us that they actually use their mobile phones for 4-5 hours before lunch and another 5-6 hours in the afternoon and at night time. It may therefore be safely assume that many of the students must be spending their time anywhere between 8 to 12 hours a day or even more on their smart phones. This is understandable because schools, colleges, tuition and coaching classes remained closed for more than four months up to the end of July. Our young people have more free time than ever before during this lengthy period of continuous lockdown. Radio, Television and the Satellite channels are no longer the hot topic for this GenX youths and students as it used to be in their parents era in the 60s, 80s and the 90s. For them the most exciting and cool things are playing interactive online games with players across the globe, buying a new hot skin for their gaming characters, making and uploading cool YouTube and Likee Videos, getting a lot of Likes on their Facebook page etc. In the pre-lockdown working days, much of our youths spend their time attending school and college. Many of them also take private tuition classes and coaching classes in the morning and after school hours. Several others also take part in outdoor games and sports coaching, hobby classes etc. Thus their mobile screen time exposure is relatively limited to only a few hours on working days and somewhat longer hours on weekend and holidays. The accumulated free time from these abandoned activities are now spend on mobile phone within the safety of their homes. 
Young students who usually play with their friends in schools and in the neighbourhood parks and playgrounds are now required to remain indoors, completely denying childhood playfulness and fun. With no lively games and fun with their friends and playmates, and more and more free time available to them, children naturally fall for the mobile games and entertainment. Playing interactive online mobile games with their school mates and neighbourhood friends become the most favourite past time for older children. While the younger children including  pre-school kids are often found hooked to simple games, animated videos, cartoons, educational rhymes and a host of other child centric applications.
Some of the Apps and mobile games are so dear to the youths that it was unimaginable for them to pass a single day without using them. The popularity of certain online games and Apps among young people especially students can be gauged from the various online reactions and comments posted by them condemning the ban of various China originated Apps in India during the COVID-19 lockdown. The ban of these Chinese Apps and mobile games arise out of the Indo-China border related issue and confrontation that took place at Galwan valley in Ladakh on June 15, 2020. Thousands of comments fuelled by anger and frustration directed towards the government were posted in various social media platforms strongly criticising the ban on games such as Mobile Legend, Clash of Kings, Hago Play With New Friends, and Apps such as Tiktok, Likee and Helo. Unmindful of their words and comments, these youngsters pour out their emotions and use the social media to vent out their anger and dissatisfactions. It seems that they are least concerned about why the government has taken up such a step.
It is highly likely that parents are fully aware of their children’s mobile phone using habits and that, too much of it is not good for their children in the long run. However, in order to keep children occupied as also to make them stay indoors and refrain them from other nuisance or mischief, parents may possibly gave them the freedom to use mobile phone for longer hours. Young people and their mobile phone using pattern have been of much concern prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and consequent lockdown. However, the present situation of prolonged lockdown seems to further enhance an already worrying malaise from bad to worse. On the positive side, children are now introduced to a totally new mode of learning, the online classes, the video lectures which one can follow at one’s own pace and convenience. The student now has the choice to keep learning and listening to the lectures repeatedly or as often as he wishes or until he/she fully understands the topic. The student also has the possibility of clarifying any doubt with his teacher, raise query, and seek more details through online forum/group of his class. The youths and students of the state are regularly and frequently using mobile phone for various purposes during the COVID-19 lockdown. It will be of immense interest and worth waiting to see if this trend of mobile phone use among youth continues in the post-COVID period. 
(Professor Rajendra Kshetri is Head, Department of Sociology, Manipur University, Canchipur and Achom Roshan Kumar is Research Scholar, Department of Sociology, Manipur University, Canchipur)