"THE END" OF INNOCENCE
I go to a park regularly where children of class 1 to 6 play around. Many a times, i witness the hush-hush talks taking place in gender based huddles. Sometimes I overhear conversations that can well be termed as obscene or vulgar in many ways, and even alarming, if considered the tender age of the speakers and the concocted information they have on the on the subject.
A class two student gets into a fight with a classmate and utters some of the vilest abuses that can put to shame even the most uncultured of tongues. A surprise checking in school results in the confiscation of a porn magazine from a class three student. A group of boys from class four caught visiting an illegal explicit site during a police raid at an internet café. Are these mere incidents of the increasing curiosity in the minds of the “children” to know the unknown, or simply the mental prematurity of the Gen Now. Whatever one may wish to believe, one must not overlook the ill effects of this trend on the young vulnerable minds, more eager to learn the untaught, and their resultant harmful experimentation to unravel the mystery.
The puberty age in children is lowered, giving rise to enquiries and inquisitiveness at a much younger age. Technology and modernization, meant for the betterment of the society, are instead spoiling the young by catering wrongly to their growing inquisitiveness. The slight push of a button enables them to have the knowledge of the entire world before them, courtesy the World Wide Web. The launch of the satellite channels has led to the showcasing of English cinema (where such scenes are somewhat mandatory), titillating serials (like Desperate Housewives, Sex and the city, Baywatch), and various talk shows and comedy serials where the ‘three letter word’ is often hinted at or openly talked about. When well-reputed national weekly’s raise the issue of sexuality on their cover page just to boost their sales, it’s the children who out of curiosity buy those magazines the most, but are left further puzzled and bewildered as nowhere do the write-ups talk about the modus operandi of the act. Even ads made in public interest with youth idols like Dravid and Sehwag to endorse the use of a certain contraceptive in order to curb the spread of sexually transmitted diseases has led to children’s mind working overtime on the “taboo” subject. Moreover, with a computer at every home and a mobile in every hand, it has become easy for children to access porn videos through net and GPRS, respectively. The large number of adult jokes circulated through messages and internet are also corrupting the minds of children who don’t even know what ‘the thing’ is all about. Fifth estate, concocted version of the fourth estate, which includes blue film cd’s, MMS clips, etc have done further damage by projecting a major human activity of evolution in an utterly crude manner, and criminally reducing it to an indiscreet act of ‘jumping and pumping’.
Our culture has labelled “it” as an indecent subject, leaving no other option for the knowledge- hungry and curiosity-rich children, than to resort to such inaccurate and corrupting sources for information. Knowledge on the subject is absolutely necessary from health and safety point of view, to make children aware of sexually transmitted diseases, sexual disorders, child abuse, rape, and avoid unwanted pregnancies. But the “right knowledge” should come from the “right quarters”, in the “right manner” and at the “right age”. And to ensure that everything goes “right” in this process of questioning and understanding, the parents, the teachers and also the school curriculum has to play a vital role. Children often turn to their peers or the corrupting internet because they are not comfortable talking to their parents or teachers on the subject. And sometimes, it’s also the parents who remain so busy in their respective careers that they seldom find time to spend with their children, and to understand their problems and curiosities of the growing up years. That’s why, often it’s the children from such families of working parents who misuse the technology available at home (internet, dvd’s and mobiles) in the absence of proper and constant monitoring of their activities by their parents. Hence, so many fatal mishaps take place due to children’s experimentation with the concocted and incomplete knowledge gained on the ‘sensitive issue’ through early and over exposure to several perverted mediums, and their lack of maturity to handle it. Infact, the whole DPS episode was the result of a young girl’s lack of maturity, unanswered curiosity, forced ignorance and compelled experimentation with sex and sexuality, which was taken advantage of, by her partner. The episode not only proved disastrous for the two people involved but also heaped disgrace on their respective families.
Like Hindi films, the children of today have moved much beyond the conservative concept of flowers and bees for depicting kisses and love making. The parents must come to terms with the fact that with every generation, it’s also the beliefs, traditions and social norms which are changing. Yesterday’s “taboo” is today’s “norm” and tomorrow’s “law”. With more and more youngsters becoming open and casual about live-in relationships, pre-marital sex and one-night-stands, it’s necessary for them to be aware of the good or bad consequences of such instinctive and indiscreet decisions taken by them. So in an era where “innocence” has come to an end and where children know much much more than they ought to, it is of paramount importance to make sure that the knowledge gained by them is always through the right sources and neither half-baked nor concocted. Together we can, and we must make the KNOWLEDGE on ‘the subject’ A BLISS for a better and safer tomorrow of our children.
BY: SHUBHRO SEN
A class two student gets into a fight with a classmate and utters some of the vilest abuses that can put to shame even the most uncultured of tongues. A surprise checking in school results in the confiscation of a porn magazine from a class three student. A group of boys from class four caught visiting an illegal explicit site during a police raid at an internet café. Are these mere incidents of the increasing curiosity in the minds of the “children” to know the unknown, or simply the mental prematurity of the Gen Now. Whatever one may wish to believe, one must not overlook the ill effects of this trend on the young vulnerable minds, more eager to learn the untaught, and their resultant harmful experimentation to unravel the mystery.
The puberty age in children is lowered, giving rise to enquiries and inquisitiveness at a much younger age. Technology and modernization, meant for the betterment of the society, are instead spoiling the young by catering wrongly to their growing inquisitiveness. The slight push of a button enables them to have the knowledge of the entire world before them, courtesy the World Wide Web. The launch of the satellite channels has led to the showcasing of English cinema (where such scenes are somewhat mandatory), titillating serials (like Desperate Housewives, Sex and the city, Baywatch), and various talk shows and comedy serials where the ‘three letter word’ is often hinted at or openly talked about. When well-reputed national weekly’s raise the issue of sexuality on their cover page just to boost their sales, it’s the children who out of curiosity buy those magazines the most, but are left further puzzled and bewildered as nowhere do the write-ups talk about the modus operandi of the act. Even ads made in public interest with youth idols like Dravid and Sehwag to endorse the use of a certain contraceptive in order to curb the spread of sexually transmitted diseases has led to children’s mind working overtime on the “taboo” subject. Moreover, with a computer at every home and a mobile in every hand, it has become easy for children to access porn videos through net and GPRS, respectively. The large number of adult jokes circulated through messages and internet are also corrupting the minds of children who don’t even know what ‘the thing’ is all about. Fifth estate, concocted version of the fourth estate, which includes blue film cd’s, MMS clips, etc have done further damage by projecting a major human activity of evolution in an utterly crude manner, and criminally reducing it to an indiscreet act of ‘jumping and pumping’.
Our culture has labelled “it” as an indecent subject, leaving no other option for the knowledge- hungry and curiosity-rich children, than to resort to such inaccurate and corrupting sources for information. Knowledge on the subject is absolutely necessary from health and safety point of view, to make children aware of sexually transmitted diseases, sexual disorders, child abuse, rape, and avoid unwanted pregnancies. But the “right knowledge” should come from the “right quarters”, in the “right manner” and at the “right age”. And to ensure that everything goes “right” in this process of questioning and understanding, the parents, the teachers and also the school curriculum has to play a vital role. Children often turn to their peers or the corrupting internet because they are not comfortable talking to their parents or teachers on the subject. And sometimes, it’s also the parents who remain so busy in their respective careers that they seldom find time to spend with their children, and to understand their problems and curiosities of the growing up years. That’s why, often it’s the children from such families of working parents who misuse the technology available at home (internet, dvd’s and mobiles) in the absence of proper and constant monitoring of their activities by their parents. Hence, so many fatal mishaps take place due to children’s experimentation with the concocted and incomplete knowledge gained on the ‘sensitive issue’ through early and over exposure to several perverted mediums, and their lack of maturity to handle it. Infact, the whole DPS episode was the result of a young girl’s lack of maturity, unanswered curiosity, forced ignorance and compelled experimentation with sex and sexuality, which was taken advantage of, by her partner. The episode not only proved disastrous for the two people involved but also heaped disgrace on their respective families.
Like Hindi films, the children of today have moved much beyond the conservative concept of flowers and bees for depicting kisses and love making. The parents must come to terms with the fact that with every generation, it’s also the beliefs, traditions and social norms which are changing. Yesterday’s “taboo” is today’s “norm” and tomorrow’s “law”. With more and more youngsters becoming open and casual about live-in relationships, pre-marital sex and one-night-stands, it’s necessary for them to be aware of the good or bad consequences of such instinctive and indiscreet decisions taken by them. So in an era where “innocence” has come to an end and where children know much much more than they ought to, it is of paramount importance to make sure that the knowledge gained by them is always through the right sources and neither half-baked nor concocted. Together we can, and we must make the KNOWLEDGE on ‘the subject’ A BLISS for a better and safer tomorrow of our children.
BY: SHUBHRO SEN
posted by Shubhro at 11:31 AM
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