The affinity to technology among the Nepalese youth

You’ve been stuck to the laptop for the past hour! Is this how you plan to waste your time?”

The quote above is something almost all Nepalese kids have heard from their parents. Children have always had to listen to their parents reprimand them about the time they spend on electronic devices. It is so common that, even when students get their exam results, the first thing most parents complain about is how their child is fixated on a gadget all the time.

Sujal Dhakal, a father to one, says, “If we can see that our child is on the phone all day, and they don’t perform to their potential in a test, what other conclusion can we make?”

Over the past two years, however, most parents seem to have mellowed on the issue. Dhakal concedes, “I do admit that it is unfair of me or anyone for that matter to be disappointed with their child being attached to one device or another after the start of this pandemic. There really isn’t much they could or can do due to the circumstances of the world. However, my main concern is how the children will come out of this. They were already addicted before, and the pandemic has only added fuel to the fire.”

The students also admit that technology has not only been their medium for schooling but almost every other activity as well. With restrictions on stepping outside their homes, they have had nowhere else to turn to either.

 However, when asked about whether teenagers really were addicted since before the pandemic, one teenager, Kushal Poudel, says, “I think we were more or less addicted, yes. However, it is unfair of our parents or just any elder person being disappointed in us for that. Most of the time our parents tell us that they would go to play football or cricket in some open field when they were our age. But there is no open field now, is there? Almost everywhere you look around, you see one building or another. It’s not that we aren’t interested in going out to play; it’s that there is virtually no place to play.”

Aakriti Adhikari, an 18-year-old, further adds, “It’s perhaps even worse for the girls. Our parents rarely let us step out of the house, and when they do, it’s when we’re accompanied by a male figure, even if that person is our younger brother. To an extent, I understand why they do so. But does that mean I can never go anywhere without a male beside me? And if they don’t let me go out, is it justified that they get angry when I stay in my room and watch a movie or catch up with my friend?”