siliconindia | | DECEMBER 20258EDITORIAL EXCLUSIVEIn today's digital world, parenting is no longer just something that happens inside homes. It happens on screens, timelines, reels, and comment sections. Millions of parents now curate their family lives online, presenting their children as joyful, achievers, trend-followers, little dancers, young coders, or perfect kids.Likes and shares have quietly become a new form of validation for many adults. Yet behind the filters and captions, a troubling psychological side effect is emerging children are growing up confused about who they really are.The camera light blinks red. A six-year-old girl stands in a spotless kitchen while her mother, phone in hand, whispers, `Smile bigger, baby this one's going to get a million views'.Ten seconds later the same child is crying because she spilled juice on the marble countertop that was just styled for `morning routine' content. The mother sighs, `Cut. We'll redo it after cleanup'.To 3.4 million followers, this family is flawless. To the little girl, reality has already begun to fracture.The Three Masks Every Child Now Sees1. The On-Camera Parent Loving, patient, aesthetically impeccable. Speaks in soft, sing-song captions, 'Watching her discover the world is pure magic'. Never raises voice. Wardrobe sponsored.2. The Off-Camera Parent Stressed, exhausted, sometimes short-tempered. May yell about the spilled juice that just ruined a paid partnership shoot. Human, but hidden.3. The Comment-Section Parent Defends every choice with scripture-level conviction. `We don't do screen time' (posted from a ring light while the iPad babysits the toddler in the next room). The performance must remain unbroken, even in replies.Children toggle between these three masks multiple times a day. The cognitive and emotional cost is staggering.Gaurav Mittal, CEO, Cognito Abacus, highlights, "Learning by visualizing and imagining engages many parts of the brain, including those linked to creativity and long-term memory, but traditional approaches stimulate fewer parts". The New Childhood Milestones No One CelebratesForget first steps or lost teeth. Today's milestones are:· First time tagged in a brand deal · First viral tantrum (quickly deleted, then re-edited into a `real mom moment' reel) · First time asked to `act natural' for twelve takes in a row · First realization that your birthday party was actually a paid partnership with a balloon companyEach milestone carves another notch into an identity that feels borrowed, not lived.Vivek Goyal, CEO and Co-Founder, PlayShifu, says, "Technology has transformed every industry and has the HOW ONLINE PARENTING PERSONAS ARE CAUSING IDENTITY WHIPLASH IN CHILDRENBy M R Yuvatha, Senior Correspondent, siliconindia
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