Child cuddling is now being replaced by mobile phones. Discuss its impact on the socialization of children.

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Ghissu Editorial · Accepted Answer

Replacing child cuddling with mobile phones weakens attachment, language, empathy and family-based value transmission, shifting socialisation from a warm primary group to an impersonal screen. The WHO's 2019 guidelines advise no screen time before age two, yet Indian under-fives were estimated in 2023 to spend about 1.5 hours online daily.

**Introduction**

Harlow's monkey experiments and Bowlby's attachment theory showed that touch builds trust. Phones now pacify Indian children instead, with under-fives already online about 1.5 hours a day in 2023 (Child Internet Safety Report), weakening the family as Cooley's primary group.

**Impact on Emotional and Cognitive Development**

SKETCH: flow | Phone in Place of Cuddling
- Less touch and talk
- Weak parent-child attachment
- Poor emotional regulation
- Weak social skills

1. **Attachment**: Cuddling releases oxytocin and teaches a child that distress will be soothed; a screen pacifies without comforting, breeding anxiety and tantrums when it is taken away.
2. **Language and attention**: Speech grows through face-to-face talk, so passive viewing is linked to speech delay, and WHO (2019) advises no screen time before age two.
3. **Health**: Screen-bound play displaces outdoor activity, adding to childhood obesity, poor sleep and rising myopia.

**Impact on Values, Behaviour and Family Bonds**

1. **Role-taking lost**: G.H. Mead showed that the self forms through play with others; solitary scrolling weakens empathy and cooperation.
2. **Algorithmic values**: Influencers and advertisements replace grandparents' stories in shaping aspiration, spreading consumerism and early exposure to adult content.
3. **Online risks**: NCRB recorded a 32% rise in cybercrimes against children from 2021 to 2022, and the DPDP Act, 2023 now requires parental consent before children's data is processed.
4. **Balance**: Co-viewing, DIKSHA content and video calls with grandparents show phones can help when parents stay involved.

**Conclusion**

A phone is a tool but cannot be a parent, and replacing cuddling shifts socialisation from a warm primary group to a screen. Families that ration and share screens while restoring touch and talk will raise children who are digitally capable yet emotionally secure.

Child cuddling is now being replaced by mobile phones. Discuss its impact on the socialization of children.

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