media influence

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 8^th 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 16^th 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.