Webinar sheds light on struggle of India’s teens

Amritsar, November 28

Unfolding and exploring the problems faced by urban teens, a web session hosted by Phulkari-WOA, a city-based non-profit organisation, in collaboration with a Kolkata-based Prabha Khaitan Foundation presented author Jyotsna Mohan’s book ‘Stoned, Shamed and Depressed’.

A former journalist, Jyotsna’s book unravels the secret lives of India’s teens and their struggles with addiction to substances, social media and gaming, dealing with intense peer pressure, bullying, body-shaming and the resultant physical and mental issues. While addressing the parents and youngsters attending the session, she said, “I decided to write about the experiences of teens because often we forget to listen to the voice of our children. As inert-personal conversation become fewer after ‘social media’ change, most of the issues that ail youth were completely ignored or slipped under the rug. Through conversations with these children, it hit me that there may not be a solution, only prevention.”

Her book elaborates on various problems including getting under the knife at a young age for social acceptance to substance abuse and loneliness that youth go through. “Even parents find themselves clueless sometimes on how to cope,” she said.

Another senior journalist and currently an associate professor of journalism at Harvard University, Nidhi Razdan, was also part of the talks.

Deepa Swani, president, Phulkari, said the session was quite significant, especially for parents. “These are definitely unusual times for parenting when social media has stormed into the lives of very young children and impacted them profoundly. This webinar aimed at bringing it to the forefront and addressing the challenges teenagers and their parents face these days.” — TNS