Social Media and Our Future Generation

Parents, teachers, preachers must combine to restore sanity

With the advancement of science and technology, every aspect of human life has seen a drastic change. It not only has made our lives quite easier and comfortable but also has compelled us to face some challenges.

The invention of the aeroplane, the computer, the mobile phone and various diagnostic machines used for varied medical investigations of man are the biggest blessings from science for mankind. In the era of computer age and the tremendous advancements in information technology, we are almost independent of manpower because the routine daily business is done now through the digital mode.

However while the appearance of mobile phones in our daily lives it has made our lives easier and more comfortable, our near and dear ones studying and dwelling in intercontinental lands seem no longer far away from us due to this great scientific gift. At the same time it has , us to tough tests.

Our older generation is making good use of it by enquiring about the wellbeing of their loved ones through voice calling and sometimes during leisure times enjoy the music of their taste or watch the morally upright videos on the Internet.

From this we can analyze the direction towards which our future generation is heading. If you won’t give them food for days together, won’t ask them to read and write and won’t restrict them from social media addiction, the availability of mobile phones in their hands is enough for them. We need to think about the declining morality of our young generation and take extra care while putting mobile phones in their hands. Instead of making them social media addicts we must try to make them responsible citizens of the society

But the mobile phones in the hands of our young and future generation has given rise to a number of issues. Instead of making judicious and positive use of mobile phones, they are degrading themselves morally and ethically by unnecessarily indulging in antisocial and inhuman practices on different social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Watsapp and YouTube etc.

From morning to evenings, even late at night, our young generation remain busy on social media. It has not only distanced them from their parents and siblings but has also been an impediment in shaping their personality in the right direction. Honestly speaking, a few days ago, I was returning from the market to my residence accompanied by another person, I met a teenaged person. I told the person accompanying me, “This young man is smart and morally upright. He is a noble person.”

In reply the person told me. ” Are you in his friend list on social media? Do you watch his comments, posts and shares? He is the dirtiest guy of our locality.”

To reply him I found no words at the time. Like me to others the lad might have been regarded as one of the noblest, but it is through his negative use and misuse of social media that his inner behaviour and traits came out.

Making Whatsapp groups among pne’s peers and then sharing nonsensical things and chatting even during night time, has made their physical health decline, as well as downgraded them morally.

Uploading unethical video items on YouTube and making short videos on the Tiktok app has now become a new norm for our young generation. They keep themselves over busy on these social sites without considering the repercussions. Our future generation has become much addicted to social media now.

Of all the social networking sites Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook is very popular and the platform most used to express one’s feelings, share knowledge, experience and to communicate with fellow beings. Islamic renowned scholars have made it a good platform to invite nonbelievers to the right path. Mission of Dawah has been much easier with the emergence of Facebook. But the most disappointing fact is that, our youth is misusing this site. Sharing unethical items recklessly, writing negative and unacceptable comments on good Facebook posts has become their habit. Creating fake Facebook IDs and pretending to be other than what they actually are, is a growing evil among the youth.

Intensity of social media addiction can be analyzed from the fact that even our children, instead of being taught good moral lessons right from the beginning by their mothers, are fetched mobile phones to watch videos on YouTube all the time. Now they take lunch and dinner only after YouTube videos are run before them, otherwise they refuse to eat altogether.

Furthermore our youth are playing games on mobile phones without feeling tired day and night. It not only has worried their parents but the people of good intellect are constantly raising these issues in their discussions. If you have gone through a typical front page of Uzma, the leading Urdu daily of the valle, you might have seen the headline “Taleemi idaare khul gaye. Chubees ghante mobile games khelne ka silsila ruk gaya ” (Educational institutions reopened. 24-hour mboolie games stop.)

From this we can analyze the direction towards which our future generation is heading. If you won’t give them food for days together, won’t ask them to read and write and won’t restrict them from social media addiction, the availability of mobile phones in their hands is enough for them. We need to think about the declining morality of our young generation and take extra care while putting mobile phones in their hands. Instead of making them social media addicts we must try to make them responsible citizens of the society.

Parents, teachers, preachers and civil society groups must come forward at the earliest to safeguard the future of our young generation by giving them lessons about the judicious and positive use of mobile phones and social media, otherwise the days are not far when in our future generations we will be having more beasts than humans.

Rayees Ahmad Kumar
Rayees Ahmad Kumar
The writer is a columnist and teaches at Govt Secondary School Anderwan Ganderbal, Indian-Occupied Kashmir

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