The pandemic has thrown many questions at us, answers to which we had known in a different way. For example, giving our children smartphones. Before 23rd March, most parents were firmly convinced that children should not be given smartphones as they could stumble upon things in the internet that their young minds cannot process.

However, in a little over a couple of (locked down) months, the opinion largely stands on its head! Not entirely though, but to a large extent. Parents who had steadfastly refused to give their children smartphones are now racking their brains to fashion arguments with which they can reverse the “no smartphone for you” argument they had drilled into young minds earlier. With classroom teaching forbidden since March 24, when the lockdown began, many schools (in urban areas at least)have begun teaching students digitally.

Working parents are in a bind. First, they need their smartphones to keep in touch with the office or work from home if their job permits. But their child needs the same smartphone during school hours to take online lessons from their teachers.

So at least one parent must give up his or her phone to the child. And if they have more than one child in “school”, the experience becomes fodder for a Bollywood comedy!

Education boards have dictated that schools should exploit digital access and continue classes. Teachers have the hardware, but a lot of students don’t. With the lockdown in force, one can’t just go out to a mall and buy a smartphone or a laptop (if the parents can afford the extra ones). Ordering online has just become possible, but delivery takes time.

So, have we, by restricting our children’s access to the digital world so far, chosen to turn a blind eye to what is a reality in our time? Were we right in denying access? These are the questions that have started dogging us now.

Giving our children their smartphones has its pros and its cons. Being aware of the cons make us adults. The coronavirus pandemic and the lockdown that entire nations have imposed on themselves has shown us that in today’s digital world it is difficult to function without a smartphone.

The point here is that denying children their smartphones will not make their life safer or better—it will just disempower them. However, parents must supervise the access while showing the children the positive side of a digital world. Schools will also have to rethink their digital aversion.