Children with fragile mental health may experience anxiety due to stress and lack of play.

• Teenagers worldwide are experiencing a mental health crisis due to increased stress and pressure from high-stakes entrance exams.

• The school day is increasingly shortened, leaving little time for free play and interaction.

• Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt links the mental health crisis to the disappearance of free play in childhood and increased use of smartphones, leading to sleep deprivation and addiction.

• Parents struggle to limit their children’s use of technology due to the numerous devices and arguments around the rules.

• Haidt recommends four reforms: no smartphones before high school, no social media before the age of sixteen, phone-free schools, and more unsupervised play and childhood independence.

• As a parent of teenagers, the proposed embargo on phones and social media is seen as drastic.

• Reading serves as a cheerful counter to the crisis of childhood anxiety, opening doors to other worlds, growing a child’s imagination, and teaches empathy.

• Children should be encouraged to pick up a book, starting with wordless picture books for infants and toddlers, and anything they like, including comics and graphic novels, for teenagers.

• Fairy tales, which contain elements that help to grow emotional intelligence, are recommended for children.

• To reach the majority of children in the country, books should be affordable and accessible, placed within easy reach of children, and translated into various Indian languages.