India, Aug. 3 -- It's a slightly old story. A 16-year-old boy was sitting in a police station in Uttar Pradesh. He had been detained for threatening to kill Prime Minister Narendra Modi, chief minister Yogi Adityanath, and then Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar.

The boy, from a rural background, wanted overnight fame and hence resorted to the online stunt. As it involved VIPs, the police zeroed in on him in no time. Later, the court took a lenient view considering his age and granted him bail. But this is no isolated case. There are thousands of such incidents where children or young adults perform such acts, compelled by their online addiction.

Online addiction has started affecting children in many adverse ways. The Academy of Medical...