In Maharashtra, a quiet but consequential debate is unfolding over how a society protects its youngest minds without severing the digital threads now woven into how they learn and belong. The state government, weighing evidence of social media's links to depression, anxiety, and suicide against the irreducible reality that screens are central to modern childhood, is charting a middle course between Karnataka's proposed ban for under-16s and the permissiveness of the status quo. It is a tension as old as any new power humanity has handed to its children — and the answer, as ever, is neither sim
Maharashtra Seeks Middle Ground on Children's Social Media as Mental Health Risks Mount
Rising mental health concerns including depression, anxiety, and suicide risk among children linked to social media use.
Banning anything is not the solution. A balanced approach is more effective.
Mark
So Maharashtra is basically saying no to Karnataka's ban. Why not just protect kids the way Karnataka wants to?
Mimi
Because the ban assumes you can separate children from devices, and that's not realistic anymore. School classes happen online. Friends communicate through apps. Parents are caught between the research showing harm and the reality that devices are essential infrastructure now.
Luke
But Shetty's citing real evidence—US Surgeon General, UNESCO. Those aren't fringe voices. How do you weigh that against the convenience argument?
Mimi
You don't dismiss it. The mental health risks are documented. But Arora's point is that a ban might just push kids to use devices secretly, without any adult awareness or guidance.
Mark
So the middle ground is: keep them online but teach them how to use it safely?
Mimi
Essentially, yes. Digital literacy for parents and children. Safeguards built into how they access platforms. Guidance instead of prohibition.
Luke
That sounds reasonable in theory, but do we have evidence that digital literacy actually reduces the harms Shetty is describing? Or are we hoping it works?
Mimi
That's the honest gap. The research on social media's mental health impact is strong. The research on whether education alone can counteract that impact is less settled.
Mark
So Maharashtra is betting on a solution that hasn't been fully tested.
Luke
Or they're recognizing that a ban isn't enforceable and choosing the next-best option. Those are different things.
Mimi
Both are probably true. The state can't realistically ban devices that are woven into education. But that doesn't mean the risks Shetty names go away.
Der Puls
- Mental health professionals are sounding alarms backed by global research — from the US Surgeon General to UNESCO — warning that unrestricted social media access is measurably harming children's psychological wellbeing, including driving suicide risk.
- The urgency is complicated by an inconvenient truth: online classes are mandatory, devices are embedded in education, and parents attempting strict limits often find conflict rather than compliance waiting on the other side.
- Educators and parent advocates are pushing back against blanket bans, arguing that prohibition breeds secrecy and that the real solution lies in digital literacy, guided habits, and behavioral change rather than technological restriction.
- Maharashtra is diverging from Karnataka's harder line, pursuing a regulatory framework built on safeguards, guidance, and responsible-use education — a bet that protection need not mean prohibition.
- The unresolved question hanging over all of it: can guidance and literacy programs actually match the protective force of a ban, or are the documented harms simply too severe to be managed by anything less?
In Maharashtra, a quiet but consequential debate is unfolding over how a society protects its youngest minds without severing the digital threads now woven into how they learn and belong. The state government, weighing evidence of social media's links to depression, anxiety, and suicide against the irreducible reality that screens are central to modern childhood, is charting a middle course between Karnataka's proposed ban for under-16s and the permissiveness of the status quo. It is a tension as old as any new power humanity has handed to its children — and the answer, as ever, is neither simple nor settled.
Maharashtra finds itself navigating a genuine dilemma: children in 2026 need digital tools to learn and connect, yet social media carries documented risks to their mental health. The state government is now pursuing a middle path — neither an outright ban nor unchecked access.
Psychiatrist Harish Shetty draws on research from the US Surgeon General and UNESCO to make his case plainly: social media causes depression, anxiety, and suicide among young people, and one in three countries has already moved to restrict it. He believes the evidence is settled enough to justify a ban. Yet even he acknowledges the friction parents face — online learning is mandatory, and strict limits at home tend to produce conflict rather than compliance.
From inside Maharashtra's schools, the view is different. Principal Poonam Arora of Bombay Cambridge International School argues that blanket bans rarely achieve their intended effect, and that guided, safeguarded access is more effective than prohibition. Mario Fishery of ASB locates the problem not in technology itself but in psychology — the fear of missing out that keeps young people tethered to their feeds. Anubha Sahai of the India-Wide Parents Association echoes this, calling for digital literacy programs that equip both children and parents to navigate these platforms without being harmed by them.
Maharashtra's emerging approach reflects this tension. Unlike Karnataka, which has proposed banning social media for under-16s, Maharashtra is leaning toward regulation that preserves access while building in protections and education. Whether that measured approach can deliver the same safeguards as a harder restriction — and whether guidance alone is equal to the harms being documented — remains the question the state has not yet answered.
Maharashtra is caught between two competing truths: children need digital tools to learn and connect in 2026, and social media is linked to measurable harm in their mental health. The state government is now working toward a middle path, one that neither bans devices outright nor ignores the mounting evidence that unrestricted access carries real costs.
The pressure to act has intensified. Psychiatrist Harish Shetty points to research that has become hard to dismiss—the US Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy, has documented links between social media use and depression, anxiety, and suicide among young people. UNESCO has published similar findings. Shetty argues the evidence is global and consistent: one out of every three countries has already moved to regulate social media through law or formal guidance. From his perspective, the case for protection is settled. "The government should be banning social media for children," he says. "All over the world, it's been proven that social media is harmful."
Yet the lived reality in Maharashtra homes tells a different story. Parents know that keeping children away from screens is not a simple matter of willpower. Online classes are mandatory. Gaming and social networking have woven themselves into the fabric of how young people communicate and learn. When parents try to impose strict limits, the result is often conflict rather than compliance. Shetty acknowledges this tension but returns to his core concern: the psychological damage is real, and it manifests as depression, anxiety, and in the most severe cases, suicide. A complete ban, he suggests, is the only honest response to what the evidence shows.
Educators and parent advocates see the problem differently. Poonam Arora, principal of Bombay Cambridge International School, argues that banning anything rarely works as intended. "Rather than imposing a blanket ban, a balanced approach is more effective," she says. With proper guidance and safeguards in place, children can use digital platforms without the harms that come from unsupervised access. Mario Fishery, director of IT at ASB, frames the issue as fundamentally behavioral rather than technological. The constant pull of social media—what young people call FOMO, the fear of missing out—keeps them tethered to their devices. Technology alone cannot solve a problem rooted in psychology and habit.
Anubha Sahai, president of the India-Wide Parents Association, represents a constituency that opposes an outright ban. Her organization's position is clear: digital literacy programs must reach both parents and children. The goal is not to eliminate access but to build the knowledge and habits that allow young people to use these tools without being harmed by them.
Maharashtra's approach reflects this debate. Unlike Karnataka, which has proposed banning social media for children under 16, Maharashtra is exploring regulation that encourages responsible use without cutting off access entirely. The state is weighing guidance, safeguards, and education as tools to protect children while acknowledging that devices are now woven into how they learn and grow. The question that remains unresolved is whether guidance can match the protective power that a ban would offer—or whether the harms Shetty documents are simply too significant to manage through anything less than restriction.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
The government should be banning social media for children. All over the world, it's been proven that social media is harmful.— Psychiatrist Harish Shetty
Rather than imposing a blanket ban, a balanced approach is more effective. With the right guidance and safeguards, we can prevent harm while allowing children to benefit from digital platforms.— Poonam Arora, Principal of Bombay Cambridge International School
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