Indian village disconnects from ‘Daily Digital Detox’ initiative

In a remote village in India, a siren can be heard from the local temple every evening at 7pm – signaling the start of the day’s “digital detox”. For the next 90 minutes, the population of 3,000 people in Sangli Mohityanche Vadgaon district put away all electronic devices nearby, including mobile phones and televisions.

The second siren goes off at 20:30, marking the end of the break. Until then, villagers are encouraged to focus on activities such as reading, studying and engaging in verbal conversation with one another.

Proponents of the initiative in a village in the Indian state of Maharashtra say it is a solution to the “screen addiction” affecting residents after the coronavirus pandemic and restores the value of human connection.

The tactic was devised by Vijay Mohite, the “sarpanch” (Indian head of the village council) in Mohityanche Vadgaon.

Jitender Dudi, Chief District Development Administrator of Sangli, brought Mohite’s idea to fruition.

‘Mobile Phone Addicts’

Jayawant Mohite, who retired from teaching at the village school two months ago, said children had turned into what he called “mobile phone addicts” after the COVID lockdowns began and were forced to attend classes via the internet, using mobile phones, 2020. .

“Students were found engrossed in their mobile phones for hours, even after classes were over for the day. When the regular offline classes started last year, most of them were very inattentive in class and it was observed that they were losing interest in academics,” a former teacher told VOA.

“After interacting with students’ families, we found that they still spend long hours on their mobile phones before and after classes. We counseled them and their families, but we could not wean the students off their mobile phones. Finally, we approached the ‘sarpanch’ of our village and informed him about the situation,” said Mohite.

Concerned village teachers also told the sarpanch that if the habit of excessive use or misuse of mobile phones by students is not quickly checked, the future of the students will be doomed.

dr. JR Ram, a clinical psychiatrist in Calcutta, said that “extended screen time can result in several adverse effects, but during the pandemic, the forced confinement of young people at home has amplified its impact.”

He said that it becomes an obstacle to the progress of students in learning.

“Surfing the Internet — that is, multi-tasking — robs students of their ability to concentrate for long periods of time when they need to study,” Ram said. “They get used to scrolling through social networks, watching videos and exchanging text messages during class. Such a situation can have negative consequences on one’s cognition or ability to think.”

Sarpanch Mohite told VOA that he held meetings with other village leaders and began devising strategies to stop misuse and overuse of technology by students.

“Some leaders said it was impossible to distance children from mobile phones, adding that they had never heard of any community that succeeded in such an initiative. Some other leaders said we should try to do something. ‘There is nothing to lose, in case we fail,’ they said,” Mohite said.

The villagers, however, were won over by a joint awareness program organized by village council employees, retired teachers, anganwadi (village childcare center) workers and members of the Accredited Social Health Activists – National Network of Community Health Services, or ASHA, made up of of female health workers in the community.

The women in the village played a key role in the digital detox initiative.

“We gathered the village women, including the mothers of the students, and explained to them how misuse of mobile phones is ruining the future of children,” Sarpanch Mohite told Voice of America. “When we proposed the idea of ​​a digital detox, everyone agreed with our concern for children and supported our idea.”

The ASHA workers, who were also instrumental in convincing villagers to embrace the idea of ​​digital detox, are local women trained to raise awareness about health issues in their communities, according to the National Institute of Health and Welfare, India.

‘compulsory practice’

Daily digital detox is now considered a mandatory practice by the residents of Mohityanche Vadgaon, with the locality team ensuring that every villager adheres to the discipline.

“In August, we published a public statement asking the villagers to help implement the proposal ‘No cell phone, no TV for 1.5 hours a day.’ On August 15 — which is celebrated as Independence Day in India — we introduced Digital Detox in our village in our style.

“In the beginning, some families did not cooperate. But, in such cases, their neighbors would report the cases to our village leaders, and our volunteers would immediately come to the houses of those families to convince them otherwise.

Every family in the village is now following our digital detox rule,” Vijay Mohite told VOA.

“After getting a very good response from the villagers, we are mulling the idea of ​​extending the ‘No Mobile, No TV’ time to two or even 2.5 hours in the near future,” the sarpanch added.

Word of the initiative in Mohityanche Vadgaon quickly spread that five other villages in Sangli district emulated Mohite’s concept and implemented similar steps.

Rajubaj Mudzhavar, a resident of the nearby village of Nerli, said that where he lives, a daily ban on cell phones and TV for a duration of 90 minutes will soon be introduced.

“Children have become mobile addicts. We have decided to soon implement the ‘No Mobile, No TV’ rule for 1.5 hours a day in our village, after what Mohityanche Vadgaon village did,” he said.