Kamal Haasan urges Tamil Nadu govt to launch radio channel to reduce children’s screen time

CHENNAI: MNM president Kamal Haasan on Tuesday asked the Tamil Nadu government to launch a radio channel exclusively for education. Health experts have warned of the problems to students due to gazing on the screens and using headphones for long hours, he said.
Such a move – either a radio station or an FM channel, could help reduce screen time and also help overcome problems of lack of connectivity, laptops and smartphones that students face while attending online classes due to the pandemic. This could be done on the lines of the exclusive television channel for education ‘KalviTV’ and would benefit the students in big way, he said.
Kamal cited the initiative by government middle school teacher R Karthikraja in Katthazhai panchayat in Cuddalore district who launched an internet radio ‘www.kalviradio.com’ for the benefit of students. He had undertaken this initiative keeping in mind the status of students in villages who could afford just 2G network.
Around 75 teachers, out of their own self-interest and love for their students, have joined hands to effectively run this internet radio for the benefit of the students. Thousands of students, studying from Class I to Class VIII, are benefiting from this and they need just 300mb data per day for attending the classes, Kamal said in a statement.
The fact that internet radio had attracted more than 3.2 lakh visitors and it had functioned for more than 14,500 hours indicated the need and demand for such a service, he said. “A full time radio station for education will greatly benefit poor students and also help other students reduce their screen time,” Kamal said.