By Srikumar Datta
Children today step into the digital world as effortlessly as they learn to speak. In India, smartphones often enter a child’s life long before adulthood. As internet access spreads rapidly across urban and rural homes alike, the central question is no longer whether children should be online, but whether we are equipping them to navigate that space safely and intelligently.
For too long, digital safety has been reduced to restriction. Screen limits, blocked websites, and constant monitoring may delay exposure, but they do not build discernment. Filters can be bypassed. Controls can be evaded. The real challenge is not limiting access, but shaping the way children think, question, and respond online.
Digital safety works best when it feels like guidance rather than surveillance. Adults often ask children how long they were online. A better question would be what they saw and how it made them feel. That single shift replaces interrogation with conversation. Children who feel trusted are far more likely to report disturbing content, cyberbullying, or uncomfortable interactions. Silence thrives under control, while awareness grows through dialogue.
One of the most effective yet underused strategies is shared digital space. When devices remain in common areas and adults actively engage with apps, games, and platforms children use, the internet loses its secrecy. It becomes visible, discussable, and accountable. Just as children are taught critical thinking in classrooms, they must be taught to apply the same skills on screens by questioning sources, recognising manipulation, and understanding consequences.
Schools must move beyond treating cyber safety as an isolated lecture or annual workshop. Digital safety should be embedded into daily learning through discussion, real world scenarios, and reflection. Children need practical skills to identify misinformation, respond to online harassment, protect personal data, and seek help without fear. Online safety is not a technical topic. It is a life skill.
At home, technology must be balanced with culture. Built-in filters, strict mode settings on iOS and Android, and age appropriate platforms such as YouTube Kids or curated streaming profiles are useful tools. Third-party applications like Qustodio or Net Nanny add another layer of protection. Yet no software can compensate for poor modelling. Children mirror adult behaviour. When parents scroll endlessly at the dinner table or before bedtime, limits lose credibility. Healthy digital habits begin with example, not enforcement.
Equally important is reducing unnecessary screen dependence by offering meaningful alternatives. Outdoor play, sports, creative arts, block building, memory games, and hands-on activities support cognitive and emotional development while drawing children away from passive screen consumption. These experiences build focus, creativity, and resilience, qualities no algorithm can provide.
Responsibility does not end with families and schools. Despite the Indian government’s prohibition of pornographic websites in 2015, users continue to bypass restrictions using virtual private networks. This reality exposes the limits of blanket bans and highlights the need for smarter regulation. India requires robust, child-centric digital policies that mandate age appropriate design, enforce strict content moderation, and demand accountability from technology platforms.
Technology companies must also be held to higher standards. AI-driven content filters, privacy by default settings, and transparent moderation mechanisms can significantly reduce children’s exposure to harmful material if implemented responsibly. Combined with parental involvement and digital literacy education, these measures can meaningfully strengthen online safety.
Safeguarding children online is not a parental burden alone. It is a collective national responsibility. The strongest filter is not embedded in a device, but in the mind of a child who knows when to pause, question, and speak up. When adults choose curiosity over control and guidance over fear, children learn to protect themselves even when no one is watching.
In a young and rapidly digitising nation like India, that may be our most important investment of all.
The writer is an author and a former senior executive in a nationalised bank.
