When I ponder over the chaos, melancholy and immorality around , my heart weeps and I recite to the verses of Kahlil Gibran ,

“You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the Archer’s hands be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.”
The winter vacation 2025 —2026 is in full swing in Kashmir. Every one, be it a common man, Resource full person of education department, a teacher or a student is seen surfing internet. Everyone is seen busy with electronic gadget. Electronic gadget in hands kills originality. Makes a person a copycat. The societal, cultural, psychological and innovative need based skills are all together killed on daily basis. There is nothing wrong in surfing internet to increase knowledge. But when it comes to dealing with the children one has to be a philosopher. Teach what you practice yourself .you cannot ask your children to minimize screen time when you are with the phone 24 /7 and you don't have time to interact with him, hug him and give moral lessons to him. Rather to ask your child to offer prayers you offer yourself and he does the same. Be real. Most of the activities for which teachers in Kashmir are trained with are basically copied from the developed countries. Trainers of education department sometimes google the activities and copy these activities to train teachers of primary level in Kashmir. Using chemicals to demonstrate the science activities to the primary school teachers of our valley doesn't suit the purpose as there are no established laboratories upto middle level. Dancing activities to memorise the rhymes are made fun of as these activities do not suit to our socio-cultural set up and are therefore rejected at many occasions and end up with laughable memes which get trolled. At many occasions the training imparted to deal with CWSN(Children With Special Needs) of Kashmir is the translated material from the developed countries. We forget the environment and society of Kashmir where our CWSN live. When you have electronic gadget in your hand you stop to be real . It appears as if the trainer is executing training to the teachers who belong to some European country. The Resource persons have a greater job to do .They have to be philosophers, psychologists , scholars and innovative. Students in the name of online classes will be having Android phones from their parents. The poor parents will be busy in purchasing brand new Android phones for their children. In this chaos and so called busy life the thing that gets killed is "Physical Book reading" in the name of digitilization as is copied from the foreign countries. Many developed countries have started moving back to physical book reading. Some have started using chalk and board. The importance of book reading can be a hot button topic. The concept of physical book reading and a physical library in schools is fading day by day. How soothing to mind is it to see children with books, a teacher holding a newspaper in his hands in spare time and a Resource person turning over the pages of research documents. I still remember my late father getting a bundle of newspapers from the market in 2000 when my photo and selection in M.Sc biochemistry (topper) in Kashmir university was advertised by the coaching centre where I studied. I still have some copies of the newspaper and my mother treats those as a sacred document.
Reading books (physical) and newspaper articles(physical) often promote deeper focus, better retention and less eye strain than phones. Studies and research carried out by Oxford Learning show that reading print books and print newspapers leads to better reading comprehension and deeper learning compared to digital reading.
A 2024 meta-analysis of 49 studies found that students who read on paper consistently scored higher on comprehension tests than those who read the same material on screen. This is called by researchers as "Screen inferiority effect".
Researchers also found that exposure to the blue light emitted by electronic devices interfere with circadian rhythms, making it harder to fall asleep and reducing sleep quality. Printed books offer a screen free alternative for pre-sleep reading.
Physical books foster deeper understanding and improved focus. The constant templation to click links causes distraction and lesser retention.
The report in "Technology in education" published by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has found that mobile devices distract students and have a negative impact on learning.
In our Kashmir the students are alarming. 62.9% parents acknowledge child addiction (2022) 94.1% of parents felt mental health suffered due to screen time(2022). The World Health Organization (WHO) has strongly advised against giving smartphones to the children as the same hinder their mental and emotional development. In Kashmir the excessive screen time is causing numerous health issues in addition to impeding children's early development.
The teachers and resource persons have the responsibility of rejuvenating this dead system. The following steps can be taken to reduce screen time and save future generations:
The library in schools (primary, middle and higher) should be kept on top priority. The news fund should be utilized in purchasing printed magazines and newspapers and should not be diverted to other funds. Teachers, students must read printed books and newspapers in these libraries to inculcate the habit of reading. The library should not be reduced to a tin box. Printed Books, printed magazines and Newspaper purchase should not be compromised at any cost. The School education department should monitor the utilisation of library and news fund seriously. These funds should not be diverted for purchasing heating systems and luxurious chairs for the staff. The school education department (SED) must ensure a well equipped library in every school. The books, magazines and newspapers should consistently be issued to the students as home assignments. Maximise the use of coloured charts in the schools. Their coloured charts should be hung on walls and should catch the eye of students.
Note book checking should not be considered as a mere formality but mandatory. Use of mobile phones used by children should be banned in schools to curb distractions and addictions. South Korea passed a nationwide law banning phones in schools.
The other countries include Brazil, France, China, Hungary etc. Australia has a bill to ban social media for under - 16s.
People now started understanding the ill effects of using mobile phones. We in Kashmir should realise it. Sooner the better. We as teachers and resourceful persons should actively be involved in spreading the information regarding benefits of printed book reading. Many development countries have started to uphold the importance of printed books, printed magazines and newspapers in schools. Let's cultivate this culture. Let us be very strong and motivated to save these innocent buds which will sprout into fragrant flowers.

Email:-----------------------muntashirkifayat@gmail.com