Social media is an amazing platform for you to share your most memorable moments and biggest successes with your friends, family and the world. But have you ever stumbled upon a post or story online that made you feel a certain kind of way? A pang of jealousy, perhaps?

Maybe it was a friend sharing a major accomplishment, and while part of you was happy for them, another part felt a pang of envy that you haven’t had the same success or maybe it made you question yourself and feel inadequate? This mix of feelings is more common than you might think, and it’s a scenario that many teens, like Aarav, experience in the digital age.

In one such instance, Aarav found himself wrestling with unexpected envy when he saw a post from a classmate who had won a prestigious environmental science competition. Despite being an advocate for environmental activism himself, Aarav felt overshadowed by his classmate’s achievement. This complex cocktail of admiration and jealousy took Aarav by surprise, prompting him to reflect on his own values and how he chooses to interact online.

Initially tempted to leave a snide comment or make a passive-aggressive post, Aarav was able to realize that these impulses stemmed from his envy rather than the supportive spirit he aspired to embody. This moment of self-awareness was crucial; it led him to genuinely congratulate his classmate, thereby transforming a moment of personal turmoil into one of collective celebration for their shared cause.

Tips for managing envy and for being supportive of your peers online

1. Always Acknowledge Your Feelings: It’s perfectly natural to feel envious at times. By recognizing and understanding these emotions, you have taken the first step towards managing them. Sometimes just simply acknowledging them helps makes it feel less overwhelming.

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“I finally realized it. People are prisoners of their phones; that’s why they are called cell phones!”

We are hearing more often nowadays that most of the youth are so connected to digital devices, that it is difficult for them to switch them off for even a minute.

Dr Nicholas Kardaras, a specialist in addiction treatment in a well-known rehabilitation centre in New York, says that the addiction to screens is way more difficult to treat than any other substance addiction. Addiction to gadgets is responsible for:

• Academic deterioration
• Poor interpersonal relationships
• Mental and physical health hazards
• Impaired social intelligence.

Digital detox

We are past envisioning an existence without computers or mobile phones. So it would not be exceptionally adept to take the ‘Zero Minutes Online’ battle when we have a smarter solution — ‘The Digital Detox’ programme.
Digital detoxification can be applied to people of all ages, but the best results have been seen in adolescents, who are arguably the worst victims of this addiction.

Digital detox isn’t about separating ourselves from our beloved gadgets and social platforms. It is more about utilizing them smartly with the end goal that we can spare ourselves from any adverse effects. It encourages us to refrain from the constant use of gadgets and gives us the chance to get rid of the stress, nervousness, and online networking weight that our minds carry every day.

Why the youth?

Youngsters are among the heaviest users of technology and gadgets. Chatting online, posting photos, and scrolling through the wall of social networks are few of the many things that keep them ever engaged with their phones and/or computers. And this is why digital detox is exceedingly prescribed for adolescents. It doesn’t just make them aware of the dangers of technology, it additionally shows them how to balance between what they want and what they should. The benefits of digital detox include, but are not limited to:

• Helping us to make good choices online.
• Allowing us to be aware of how much time we devote to our devices and track our own progress.
• Making us healthier, both physically and mentally.
• Reducing stress and anxiety cropping out from constant use of technical devices.
• Improving academic achievements, emotional problems, relationships with parents and siblings.

The 5 Steps

1. Go offline: The first step of your digital detox is to get rid of the FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). Many teenagers fall prey to digital addiction as they find it hard focusing elsewhere with the steady anxiety that they are missing out on something fascinating.

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