Before the invention of the Computer:
A keyboard was a piano.
A programme was an entertainment show.
An application was a written data for employment.
The mouse was an animal.
Memory was something that you can, lose with age.
Logging was adding wood to Fire.
Cut was what you do with a pocket knife.
Paste was what you do with glue.
A web was a spider’s home.
A Site was a location for a building.
But... today it seems like our ‘online’ and ‘offline’ lives are getting difficult to keep separate, particularly with so many of us owning smart phones. It is as if we are never disconnected from the lives we have built to make a distinction between the virtual and real. Thus the debate continues to be ‘how virtual world affects our real life’.
Posting photos of yourself online can mean trouble for you. People may make use of your photos in a wrong manner. The selfie craze is at an all time high across the world irrespective of the status of the country. Whether it belongs to the third world category or not. The word selfie was not even found in dictionaries of six years ago. It was not much popular until 2014. But no one seems to be ignorant of it today. Just a few years ago there was no smartphone with front camera. But after the development of the ‘smart operating systems’ like iOS and Android almost every smartphone company adopted the front camera and now we are at the stage where even front cameras feature high definition video capturing modes. Taking selfie is now a new kind of social sickness. People who take a lot of selfies are now becoming self-conscious, self-obsessed and are also very particular about their physical appearance. They have become lost in the admiration of themselves. This has been approved by a team of psychologists from the US.
When you take a selfie and post it is any website on the Internet without making it private there is a 75% chance that someone will download your picture and it will become easy for them to misuse your selfie. They may edit it in their style and post it somewhere else without your knowledge and thus it becomes life-threatening.
Films are a strong visual medium in influencing people's thinking and behaviour. Violent scenes effect the young audience. Films strike a sensitive and direct chord with the feelings and thoughts of viewers. Sensitive subjects involving society like terrorism, negative portrayal of womanhood, glorification of anti-social elements, pompous portrayal of antagonism etc have very bad impact on the minds of young audience.
Again discrimination against the professions like police, politicians and lower caste in cinema corrupt the society. The ideologies expressed in tele-serials reaches a large cross-section of households on daily basis and they have a strong impact on their loved ones.
The present generation can be called the 'multimedia generation' as most of them are crazy about gadgets. Most of the youth today are experts in texting but when it comes to real communication, they are not able to talk face to face with someone. They feel shy. They are not confident. Many a time we find kids having a firm grip on a computer game but they are neither interested nor good at any outdoor game. Lack of interest in sports and games causes a lot of concern as it leads to health and behaviour problems. Children spend long hours setting in front of the TV screens or computer monitors and lose interest in studies and sleep. As a result their concentration level is low in the class-room and they tend to catch up with the sleep they have lost the previous night. They become moody, sullen and withdraw themselves into a shell. They at times become very aggressive and are susceptible to pick up fights.
Most of the youth today are experts in texting but when it comes to real communication, they are not able to talk face to face with someone.
Malignant brain tumors are the second cause of death in children, young and adults in the united states. This epidemic is largely caused by the radiation emitted from the cellphones, which penetrate the head of the users. If cellphones are being used too much for attending calls, the user experiences ear pain, headache, insomnia, dizziness, irritability and stress.
Study shows that there is a correlation between cellphone emissions and slightly higher incidence of human brain tumors and DNA breakages. It seems four times more the radiations are leaked into our head rather then actually being used to transmit signals. The reason for leakage is that the manufacturers tend to lower the production cost in exchange of lessening radiations.
Study shows that there is a correlation between cellphone emissions and slightly higher incidence of human brain tumors and DNA breakages.
"All that glitters is not gold." Every attractive thing in this world has its own repulsive side. One such thing is the social networking, which is ruling the present world. Social networking has become a battle field for the invasion of privacy. It is a storage source of personal information of the user which can be easily viewed or even misused by the advertisers and other users. The users personal accounts stored in these sites can also be hacked which may prove problematic to the users. Young students get mesmerized by these sites, start spending hours together chatting with friends, most of whom they have not even seen. This makes them loose concentration in studies. Getting involved in these social networking sites is mere waste of time. Social networking sites may have shrunk the world and brought people together, but it has confined the people to the span of “Monitor” making them lazy too.
Video games have become more and more realistic. The main consumers of these games are teans. These games have become a part of childrens life for past few decades. They are almost second nature to the modern children. Children are more comfortable playing video games. But these games have bad effects on children. They get addicted to playing these games and give them foremost priority. This takes the children away from their responsibilities such as doing household chores, homework and other physical activities children also end up spending more time playing video games, in front of television screens. This in turn can have many health - related problems for the children as they can get more obese if they don’t exercise and stay home playing video games. At times video games take them to another level, where the children are actually participating in being violent in the video games. There are many games out there that allow the children to play arm bearing characters. It is important that parents and the educators take up this problem seriously and impose some rules and regulations that allow children to utilize their time and accept responsibility between playing games and completing there studies and other responsibilities.
Another menace is the ‘Reality shows.’ The Reality television genre and specific reality shows have been subject to sensible criticism which argue that reality shows do not reflect reality but rather implicit deceptions such as misguided editing and re-staging. In competition based programmes the format is designed in such a way, creating a fabricated world, an unacceptable change, degrading the core purpose of reality shows. Moreover the participants are selected carefully and conflicts are encouraged for the popularity of the show. Reality shows have been involved in speculations that the participants act out storyline due to constant coverage of media. Thus they have restored to deception to such an extent that the contestants are paid huge amounts of money for portraying unsocial events. Reality television has the potential to turn its participants to national celebrity level. But amidst the ethic of modern day reality series these contestants have done nothing to warrant fame!!
The most criticized aspect of reality shows is the involvement of children. Their involvement in the industry is for the sole purpose of entertainment which is considered to the inhumane. Further more some children are forced merely for the publicity of the show. Reality programmes being real there is a lot more reel too. In conculsion reality television is nothing more than a ‘CRUEL HOAX’ that convinces us of all fantasies and the like.
About the Author:
Ms. S. Madhu, M.A., B.Ed.: I am working as TGT Social Science in Anna Adarsh MHSS for the past 29 years. I am the Head of Social Science department and convener of the G.K.Club of the school. I have authored Social Science text book for Std IV for Oxford University Press. I have a great passion for teaching and conducting General Knowledge competition regularly in school. For the past seven years I have enabled my students to score centum in my subject in the STD X Board Examination. Teaching is the most honorable profession to mould the students. I conduct Moral Science classes for students and imbibe good values in them. I have motivated many of my students to become good citizens of India.