We are living in technologically advanced era. Scientific gadgets have become the need and habit of the people of our age .Today, everybody one way or the other is influenced by the technological advancements .Our way of looking towards life has drastically changed with the changing trends .To convey a simple message to people we prefer phone calls instead of meeting them . This way the globe has shrunk but unfortunately the gap between relations has widened .Even within a family people hardly talk to one another. Communication gaps are increasing. Despite being among the group of people we are literally alone. What has kept us lonely and isolated is nothing other than our cell phones .People don’t even speak to others who are standing/sitting around them, rather people are usually busy with their cell phones and as such these cell phones have affected all of us and worst affected are our youngsters. This social networking and techno friendly behaviour has made them highly antisocial. We have enough time to check the notifications on face book and other micro blogging social networking sites but we don’t have time to talk to our octogenarian parents. Indeed technology has helped us in many ways but it has kept us confined to our selves .It has lessened our manpower but it has definitely stopped our thinking capabilities. It has helped us a lot in saving our time but it has indeed snatched all our free time Moreover excessive use of technology is off course harmful. Excessive use of cell phone is very dangerous. It keeps us all the time busy with texting and talking. In these days, everyone is feeling incomplete without a cell phone. We keep it with us all the time. Most of the youngsters don’t know how to use the cell phone properly.
Irony is that the phones are not even kept away from new born baby. The moment the newborn opens his / her eyes the photos are being clicked and the ‘selfie competition’ starts. Actually we are not aware of the fact that we are bombarding them with harmful rays. This is the way we welcome a new member? Immediately after birth we are exposing him to the harmful rays. As the babies grow up, they become habituated and get friendly with it. It does not end here but it continues and invites the series of problems. The kids waste their time playing games, watching videos and are least interested in studies. Various surveys have been conducted and it has been found that majority of children are suffering from eye related problems and the reason behind all this is cell phone .People are growing crazy as they leave no stone unturned to put their lives in danger because of this device. While driving we forget that use of cell phones is prohibited .No doubt mobiles come with lot of problems but that doesn’t mean we should stop using this magic device but we need to use it in a proper way. Don’t make your life and thoughts immobile by these mobiles. Expose your children to soothness of nature don’t expose them to the harmful rays .Make your children strong and try not to introduce things like mobile phones or video games to them. Introduce them to natural beauty. Give your kids enough space to make friends don’t keep them confined .Take them to the parks and gardens .Make them friendly with the environment, not with technology. As somebody has rightly said “we are damaging the world more with our mobiles than our forefathers did with their musket.”
(The author is EVS Lecturer at Govt Higher Secondary School Khellani Doda. Views are his own)
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