There is an increasingly growing number of adolescents in cities and urban India, who are actively involved in the virtual world on a daily basis, even at cost of studies. Besides the internet, there are other distractions too like the Blackberry messenger service. Parents and teachers label it as waste of time, teenagers call it multi-tasking.
There are nearly 52 million internet users in India, according to the Internet and Mobile Association of India. And many of these are school-goers who spend much of their off-school hours surfing. But a study conducted by Britain-based psychologists found that the exam results of students using Facebook while working on other tasks were 20 percent lower than non-users. The study surveyed 219 students aged between 19 and 54 at an American university. The study has unleashed fresh worries over Facebook, which has nearly eight million users in India. Parents, especially, are cautious. One of the Facebook groups is 'No Exams' has over 100,000 members, with plenty of Indian members. Of the 635 million mobile phone subscribers in India, more than 16 million access internet on their phones, claims Facebook.
