Neeraj Dubey
Airtel – Express Yourself; BSNL – Connecting People; Aircel – Your World of Possibilities; Reliance – Big Entertainment; Tata Indicom – Docomo, these are the slogans of different networks that attract young and old and make them buy their SIM cards. The entry of mobile phones has changed the entire communication system in our society and the gadget is being used by all sections of the society irrespective of age. Mobile phones have become a primary need in each and everyone’s life. Almost all the college students are in possession of the mobile phones. The impact and the influence of mobile phones on the youth and more especially on the college students have become a concern for the growth and development of youth in positive and constructive ways. Globalization has many aspects and mobile phone is a good technology which has become part and parcel of lives and without which we become helpless and at times not able to live comfortably as it connects us to the rest of the world. The whole world is accepting and adopting the ways towards the advancement of technology. The youth is playing a vital role in this rapid pace. Our youth are allured to divert their attention towards the internet and they are influenced and changed a lot by the usage of internet. A few of them have inclined for knowledge, information, awareness and exposure but the majority of them appear to have misused the internet or mobile phones. The adoption of the mobile phones by young people has been a global phenomenon in recent years. It is now an integral part of young peoples’ daily lives and on student community it is more than a mobile phone alone and is for the majority, the most popular form of electronic communication. In fact, the mobile phone has turned from a technological tool to a social tool. Young people use the mobile phone in positive ways to organise and maintain their social networks. However, there are also negative impacts on young peoples’ peer relationships. These can include ostracism and cyber bullying. The impact of the mobile phone on the educational institutions and especially on college students has to be treated as a major concern for right education. In a survey conducted among the college students of 475, most of own a mobile phone while some of them have more than one phone. There are many who use more than one SIM in their phones. Some of them use smart phones. 90% of the students use the phone on internet to chat with their friends and most of them spent time in sms’s. There are a few who browse their assignments and work.
About 80% for listening to music and entertainment and spent most evenings with these gadgets. The survey could not get a clear picture of how much money they spent on mobile phones as there are many packages and many of them do not know how much spent on it. Today, mobile phones have become popular to everybody since it is very convenient. The most advantage of having a mobile phone is you can communicate to your family and your friends no matter where you are. For instance, you can contact easily to your friends by calling or sending messages everywhere without electricity. It is maybe the main reason why almost all people today choose to own a mobile phone. Moreover, you can relax with mobile phone’s applications, for example, play games, listen to music, or chat with your friends. These are the advantages of mobile phone usage and it is a world that can teach and enable one to learn more and more. On the other hand, there are also disadvantages. Using a lot mobile phone can harm your brain, particularly teenager and children who are under 16 years old according to some researches. If you use mobile phones too much, you will get bad effects like dizzy, blood-brain barrier, or ears problems. In addition, when you use mobile phones while you are driving, you will get an accident. It is essential not good for you and others. Moreover, “radiations emitted from the phone are dead harmful for the eardrum”, has proved by many scientist. In spite of all the harmful effects the society has not come out with proper education of mobile phones and also its harmful effects on student communities.
The college students seem to be not mature enough to hand their use of mobile phones constructively and properly. It has become a menace to young generations. Many students are getting addicted to the use of mobile phones despite its harmful effects. It has been felt and understood by the authority and management of any educational institution, the use of mobile phones in classes have been considered as a vital threat to the system of education. The teaching community has found it challenging and threatening to their teaching in class room because of mobile phone use by students in the class room during the class hours. Some students might use cell phones which are costly. There is a chance of getting it stolen. There are instances where poor students who cannot afford to buy costly mobile phones steal from their friends and destroy them. It leads to bad habits and social problems. Some students use costly phones that leads to peer pressure and their friends are influenced to buy similar ones and it leads to unhealthy competitions.
I have seen and witnessed in young people the restlessness when they are not able to use them. As has been mentioned in the beginning of the article the mobile phones have lead to changed dynamics in the family life. Those students who are away from their parents for educational purposes are not being monitored or controlled by any one on the abuses of the mobile phone usages. Disruptions to lessons, incidences of cheating and bullying are some of the negative impacts that seem to be more than the positive effects and impact it have on young people. Creativity and innovation is blocked by the consistent telephonic conversations spread over the whole of night. They are losing their interest towards the interactions and sociality. Such kind of behavior is leading towards the social fragmentation and terrible decline of moral values in which respect is core one. Young people are not realizing the effect and impact it has on the future of the individuals as well as the society.
The whole youth population or student community is passing through the chaos, disturbance and mental incapacitation. We are not realizing that what is worth of our youth? We need to realize that the creativity and potentials of our youth have to be properly guided and directed. I feel at times that we ourselves are paving the way for our youth towards the devastation and shoving them into fire.
It is the duty and responsibility of every right minded citizen especially the teaching faculty of engineering colleges to educate and inculcate our youth, especially college students towards the proper use of mobile phones by way of organizing seminars & awareness programmes and also the need to capacitate them for a bright and prosperous future. The future of our nation is in the hands of the young generation that needs proper discipline, guidelines, rules and regulations. Let us all lead them in a proper and healthy way forward. The author’s quoted “Healthier will be the young generation, more healthier will the nation.”
(The author is Asst. Professor GCET Jammu)
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