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When the Screen Becomes the Cradle

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  • 02 May 2026

We must treat early childhood care as a public responsibility, not a private afterthought

 

In far too many homes today, the mobile phone has ceased to be a device; it has become a surrogate parent. A crying infant is quieted with a screen. A restless toddler is distracted with cartoons. A busy household, pressed by work, fatigue and worry, reaches instinctively for the easiest tool at hand, the smartphone. What begins as convenience is fast hardening into habit, and what is passed off as harmless modern parenting may, in fact, be sowing the seeds of a grave developmental crisis. Fresh clinical observations from AIIMS, highlighted by paediatric neurology experts including Prof. Shefali Gulati, have again sounded the alarm: children exposed to prolonged screen time in infancy appear more likely to show autism-related symptoms and other developmental difficulties later. The science, to be clear, does not permit crude conclusions or reckless headlines claiming that screens “cause” autism. But the warning is serious enough, and repeated often enough, to demand immediate public attention. Where the evidence is not yet absolute, prudence must still prevail. Another review found that excessive screen exposure in very early childhood was consistently linked to ASD-like symptoms, language delay and weakened social communication. A recent longitudinal study also connected higher screen time at 18 months with greater autism and ADHD symptoms later in childhood. In other words, while science may still debate mechanism, it is no longer debating whether there is reason for concern. Kashmir must read this warning in the mirror. The Valley’s families are raising children in an atmosphere already strained by uncertainty, shrinking community life, academic pressure and the erosion of open, shared spaces where children once played and learned naturally. Into that vacuum has stepped the smartphone cheap, available, seductive and disastrously convenient. It keeps children quiet, but at what cost? A screen cannot teach eye contact. It cannot build emotional reciprocity. It cannot replace speech, touch, storytelling, laughter or the slow, irreplaceable labour of human bonding. The first years of life are not merely a stage to be managed; they are the foundation on which the mind itself is built. This is why Kashmir needs more than casual advice. It needs a public campaign. Parents must be told, clearly and repeatedly, that children under two should not be left to screens as a routine habit. Doctors must discuss screen exposure with the same seriousness as nutrition, sleep and immunisation. Anganwadi workers, schools, mosques, mohalla committees and health centres should all become channels of awareness. Let there be no misunderstanding: children with autism deserve dignity, inclusion and every measure of support. But if preventable risks are rising before our eyes, society has no right to look away. Kashmir cannot allow the cradle to be colonised by a glowing rectangle. The child needs a face, a voice, a touch, a world. And the sooner we remember that, the safer our future will be.

 

 

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