By: Syedah Moonis Raza
Adolescence, commonly called Teenage is an age when an individual is neither a child nor an adult. It is a period of age between twelve (12) and nineteen (19) years. It is a golden and curious period of one’s life because it is the time that decides what the future of an individual will be! At this age, one undergoes many physical, mental, and emotional changes which result in mood swings, insecurities, hygienic problems, distractions, addictions, etc.
In today’s materialistic world, it is hard for a teenager to cope with these problems or challenges. Nowadays, science is also developing, providing us with a better and a comfortable life. By the invention of internet, world has became a “global village” in a real sense. We can access world of knowledge by the internet. But, as we know, everything has advantages as well as disadvantages and the most dangerous disadvantage or negative impact of this invention of science is on “teenagers”.
The Internet has been a part of our lives for the past two decades. The Internet is the most appreciable invention of our scientists. It was invented to connect the people of the whole world and to minimize the distances. For students, it was a new medium to learn new concepts, gain knowledge, education, and for a little bit of entertainment. But, nowadays, a lot of crime is going on via the Internet; robbery, kidnapping, etc. are becoming common due to the Internet. We can fill out forms online, book tickets online, receive notifications from various groups, attend online classes, and talk to different people. The teens love to be on it, but they do not know with whom they are speaking or sharing information, and then, the shared information gets leaked or looted resulting in destroying the image of an individual.
Gadgets like Mobile Phones is a need of everyone. Nowadays, one can live without water, food or even clothes and proper shelter but cannot live without a Mobile phone! It is indeed an essential object! We do various tasks via mobile phones: we call our friends, family, and relatives; we check time, play games, use the calculator, and many different applications. Most importantly, via phones, we use the Internet. Other gadgets like laptops, Tablets, etc are also used in the same way. The teens use these gadgets for their studies but, with that, they watch useless movies, and series, take selfies, and waste the most precious time of their teenhood. For some people, it’s not wrong to watch movies or take selfies but to be on these gadgets 24/7 is not good enough. Also, most of the teens that are having their own devices don’t even sleep properly because they love to be on them all the time!
Media, or Social Media, is influencing everyone’s lives a lot. People upload and share their views, thoughts, photos etc. through social media to others. Social media makes us able to run different apps and open different accounts on them, e.g. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Threads, and YouTube etc. The young people create accounts on these apps just for fun but they are actually falling into a trap… a trap which spoils their precious time! When they see that other people are uploading their happy (but fake) lives, they start to feel insecure about themselves. Then, compare themselves to those fake people leading to mental health issues that further minimize their self-esteem and confidence.
The other disadvantage of these gadgets and media is the addiction to Vlogging, gaming, influencing, etc. There’s a craze or we can say a trend among this generation to become a social media influencer, Vlogger or gamer. Many people or the majority of people is earning from these professions but they are wasting other people’s time, who remain watching their videos and waste their time in the name of entertainment!
So, these are some main challenges that this generation is facing. It is necessary to find a solution and to save the young people and their future, from these evil acts. Many people might say/think: that keeping them (the young generation) away from these things is the ultimate solution…but it is not fair! Because they have to manage (somehow) to live in this modern society, where science has been a necessity. So, the thing we could do is, Promote the Safe Use of All These Inventions.
Now, the question arises “How to promote safe use”? Well, it can be done in simple ways:-
First and foremost, young children should not be given access to these things. As nowadays, kids do not like to play with toys and indoor/outdoor games but they only like to watch phones, tablets, etc. And it is destructive to their eyes as well as to their young minds. They get addicted to media from a very young age and as a result, when they are in their teen era, it is impossible for them to live a minute without phones. They loss focus on studies, co-curricular acts, and other beneficial tasks.
The second thing is, that parents must remain friendly to their teens because they are not adults yet…they still need their support and guidance, it is the time when they need them the most. It is above mentioned that a teen undergoes many changes and challenges, so parents must be aware of all these problems so that he/she will not get confused or disturbed. As parent, they must tell all the positive as well as the negative impacts of the media, internet, and gadgets to their early teens. Also, it is mandatory to keep looking after each and every activity done on these platforms. If, in case, they feel like their children’s behavior is getting changed, they should patiently and politely make their teens understand.
The third thing is, to keep good company. At home, a teen spends his/her time with family but at school, how can anyone know with whom he/she is? A teen gets easily attracted to evil acts because it’s the time when his/her emotions are at their peak. The bad friends might have their own devices, very good access to the Internet, and all social media accounts, because of what the other teen gets influenced by them. A good company will motivate them to work on their future and won’t waste their time but due to bad company, one can lose his/her health and wealth.
Hazrat Sheikh Sadi (R.A) says:
صحبت صالح ترا صالح کند صحبت طالع ترا طالع کند
کند ہم جنس با ہم جنس پرواز کبوتر با کبوتر باز با باز
“The company of good will make you good,
The company of bad will make you bad.
Those who are of the same nature will fly off together,
Eagles soar with eagles, pigeons flatter with pigeons.”
Therefore, teens should use phones, laptops, tablets, the internet, and media along with other gadgets, but in a safe, protective, and efficient way. No doubt, they are not fully mature like adults but at least they can think about what’s best for them to build a successful life. They should keep in mind that these inventions are there to help them in their studies and to ease their learning, so, they should use them efficiently.
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The writer is a student of Class 11th (Medical), Govt. Girls Hr. Secondary School, Narbal Budgam, and can be reached at syedasifraza11@gmail.com
