The ‘Freeky Child’
Technology robs children of their
innocence in many overt and covert ways. In early societies, children learnt
from natural cycles of life. They watched adults manifest food from the ground,
observed how usable goods were derived from raw materials, and watched how
other provisions were made for basic needs and enjoyment. They listened to
stories at mealtime and ceremonial gatherings, which were told by elders who
cared about maintaining standards for the survival of their community. Present
day children who watch cartoons and other programs on television, and who play
video games become enamoured with fast paced, highly stimulating, sexualized,
and violent material and this remove them from reality into a world of hallucinations.
To
understand the gravity of the issue, let us discuss a case reported to
CHILDLINE Trivandrum. Childline team attended a case at Vilappilsala. The SHO
called to CHILDLINE and informed that they found a boy (Krishnan) wandering
alone near Kollamkonam at 1 AM in the night. The boy said that he was orphaned
by the Puttingal fireworks accident and that his father’s friend put him up in
a bakery at Trivandrum to earn money. Upon bringing him to our centre and counseling
the boy, we found incongruity in his statements. The police had contacted local
police at Puttingal in order to trace his relatives and informed media to get
support to rehabilitate him and report his statements. One of the inmates of
our home identified him and his name and address and school were different. Later
he confessed the details about his family and he left home because his mother
had found a cell phone in his bag which he had borrowed from a friend. He was afraid that his mother would get angry
with him. They came to CHILDLINE office and we restored him to home after
providing emotional support and guidance.
If parents and caregivers reinforce
the notion, children may come to understand on an intellectual level that certain
forms of entertainment are not reality but mere fantasy. However, on a much
more influential emotional level, children do not comprehend this difference.
They become physically and chemically addicted to excitement and the hormones
cursing through their brains and bodies; they develop no realistic grasp on the
threat of danger.
Repeatedly exposed to unnatural
levels of stimulation created by entertainment programmes children lose or
never develop their own natural motivation and ability to create, explore their
personal and unique Inner Worlds, listen to the still soft voice within, and
surrender to a larger world of spiritual mystery. Life for them becomes a quest
for external stimulation, instant gratification, entertainment, and sensual fulfilment,
and the more the better. Since few can creatively compete with highly paid
teams of geniuses that thrive on corporate greed, children may unconsciously
believe they are not talented, can never compete, and are not good enough.
Cartoons, movies, sports, and news programs expose young minds to so much
violence, out-of-context sex, and a general lack of compassion. Winning for
thrills, conquering, and annihilating become the coveted goal and grand prize.
Hypnotized by mass media, children learn to conquer the next guy, to win at the
expense of all else, to conform to a projected image, to consume, to manipulate,
or retreat into their own shells. Through technology, children are given an
acceptable way to avoid contact with others, further denying needed
interactions that would teach everyone involved how to handle their emotions
and energy, refine their communication skills, and generally manage their
energy. Children are now being seen and told they are good and well behaved for
appearing docile and compliant. Thus their social and coping skills are
diminished.
The second
case involves a school girl of class 7. Her case was brought to us by the
police. Sweta (Given name) allegedly survived a kidnapping attempt on her way
to tuitions. Her statements were found self contradictory. This prompted the
police to transfer the case to CHILDLINE. While undergoing counselling session
with CHILDLINE, the girl repeated her statement to the police. While walking
towards her Hindi tuition class, Sweta found two vehicles a white jeep and
ambassador stopping by her side. They whistled to grab her attention. As she
turned around, one of the men inside the car sprayed something onto her face. She
felt dizzy and almost going unconscious. While trying to drag her into the car,
she heard a scream. A girl was shouting for help, in Tamil, inside the car. She
was held captive by an elderly lady. As
the person holding Sweta, lost focus, she pushed him aside and ran towards the
tuition teacher’s house. Seeing the desperate girl, the teacher raised alarm. Soon,
people of the locality started searching for those mentioned by the girl. But none
of them could find any such vehicles that matched the description. We found discrepancies
in her statement at various instances. Upon cross checking the facts with her
again and again, the girl broke down. She had cooked up the whole story, just
to avoid punishment from her tuition teacher, for not completing the
homework.
This loss of innocence, imagination,
and skills leads to a fragmentary understanding of love between man and woman.
Since people are attracted to others of parallel consciousness and frequency,
high tech children are drawn to similar fragmented beings that have never
developed an understanding of who they are. Two half beings do not unite to
make a whole being. They just know they need something they do not have and
want to get it by any shortcut method at their disposal. Their ―love is in
reality only an addiction, a need for gratification from an external source.
The third might
probably be the most shocking of the lot. In the second week of October,
CHILDLINE received information about class teacher regarding a girl named Shamna
(given name) 13 years old studying in 8th standard at a govt. HSS. The
Headmaster and PTA president found suspicious evidence linking the girl to an
unknown sex racket. Her side of the story has almost 15 to 20 versions. The
girl made her mother believe that she receives messages from her class teacher.
The messages ask the mother to take her child to various places as part of a
quiz competition. During these visits she allegedly exchanged a few gold
ornaments. These were in fact stolen by Shamna’s tuition teacher, who forced
her to do so by black mailing. Another claim by the girl is that a relative of
Shamna has naked photos of her used for blackmail. Shamna also alleges that she
had discontinued classes from 16th of August owing to a freak
accident that bruised her nose. The school authorities tried to contact her
mother. But the girl answered the call posing to be her mother. So they removed
her name from the school roll/attendance register. School authorities informed
CHILDLINE to follow up the case, but they not even once made a home visit to
identify the issue. Till now, there has been no evidence to substantiate her
claims.
Without self-awareness, discipline, and
skills, parent and child will not be able to live harmoniously together and be
fully alive. Witness how so many families begin with their children, happy and
content, similar to an enjoyable movie. But when years pass by, they end up
taking so much time away from the other or taking things for granted. They are
not acting out of love and compassion anymore, but out of personal egoistic
gratification. Unconditional love must be the foundation and the building
blocks of daily living within any relationship or it will disintegrate. This requires
presence of the parents with children and time for interaction without the
barrier of TV, cell phone, video games, internet etc.
