45% Kashmir students up to Class 12 report sub-optimal mental wellbeing due to social media: study

As India’s southern states consider banning social media for teenagers, a study in Kashmir high schools found that 45 per cent of students reported sub-optimal mental health, suggesting older students had more exposure to technology but “felt worse”.

According to the study published this year by , “The inability of some students to control some technologies at will causes feelings of anxiety. More than 14% are moderately to highly anxious when they cannot use text messaging.” Ianna Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies.

Survey titled ““Link Between Social Media Use and Mental Health Outcomes Among High School Students in Kashmir” He conducted research on approximately 400 students from Grade 7 to Grade 12 in both rural and urban settings. It evaluated students’ social media usage, which included social activity, video games, virtual friendships, and smartphone addiction.

“More than 17 percent of students were moderately to very high levels of anxiety when they were unable to use cell phone calls, while the inability to use Facebook and other social networks as intended caused moderate to very high levels of anxiety in at least 12 percent of students,” he said.

The study suggested that improper use of personal email, work email, and voicemail by students resulted in moderate to very high levels of anxiety in at least 13% and 10% of students. “44.3 percent of students were found to have poor to moderate psychological health. Older students feel worse,” he said.

Video games ranked first in the negative correlation with students’ psychological well-being, followed by internet searching, smartphone use, and text messaging. The research also revealed that smartphone, game and social network usage was higher among male students compared to female students.

It was highlighted that “a few of the students had moderate to high levels of technology use, such as online dating (3.6%), video gaming (2.8%), phone calling (2%), watching television (1.6%), text messaging (1.2%), and social media dating (0.8%).”

The study calls for a re-examination of school policy in Kashmir. “Interventions should focus on developing healthy social media habits in students. Schools should consider developing computer and information proficiency programs to educate students about the potential consequences and dangers of social media and techniques to control social media use and addiction,” the study said.

He also advocated for mental health service programs as part of schools to train students to deal with the psychologically challenging consequences of behavior in cyberspace. “Counselling and educational programs can motivate students to develop healthy online habits and encourage them to seek help when experiencing technology-related stress and anxiety,” he said.

The research emphasized that parents should provide guided screen use, create offline social experiences, and engage in positive discussions about social media “to mitigate the harmful consequences of excessive social media use.”

It also called on lawmakers to create policies to support digital health, including programs for safer web use, filtering age-appropriate content, and creating spaces that encourage responsible social media use. According to official figures, total enrollment from pre-primary to Class 12 in Kashmir stood at around 26.17 lakh in the academic year 2024-25.