Today’s generation is growing up with obscure grief. They don’t even know what is the reason behind their depression. Nowadays it’s become a kind of fashion. A 13-year-old kid puts status on the social media-‘I want to die’, ‘I hate my life’. It’s become normal but it’s not normal. A recent study has shown that youngsters are much more depended on social media nowadays and it is one of the reasons for the depression. They are obsessed with the loneliness. We are living in a world today where everything is becoming unrealistic.
As we look back to the good old days, everything was pure, materialistic even the people. Feelings were solid cause the human connection was real, people used to spend time talking to each other, reading books, playing outdoor games, the world was not bound in a small device. Meeting, talking - these aspects of social life was not such an easy thing to come by. But, in this era everything is full of fakeness, cheat, hate, negativity, drossy and difficulty. Everyone is available for everyone. So, the value of meeting, talking and general gatherings is not like before anymore. A person, their mentality, even the way of thinking has changed.
People’s thoughts have become self-centered. They don’t even feel comfortable to spend time with each other face to face. They prefer talking online. Kids are growing up with the companion of electronic devices and they are getting robotic service from the internet. Parents are getting detached from their children and spending their leisure time involvolved with online friends, chatting, gaming and other online fancies, these are making them an addict.
But, do they really know each other, with whom they are spending most of their time? On the internet, they are making fake friends, fake relationships and are also getting bullied, as a result, they are attempting suicide or doing self-harm, because they are not getting the touch of proper, healthy and natural lifestyle that they deserve. They are getting sick of this automated life, everything is becoming mechanical. Are we happy with this automated life?
The most triggering part of social media is we are becoming competitors like—who is better, who can post better status or share better photos. We are getting jealous and giving more effort to become popular in media rather than focusing on real life. We do show off and put happy selfies on social media to let everyone know that we are happy. Life has become like it’s a competition. A tendency of flexing, posting good pictures, showing a luxurious lifestyle has become a trend. We judge everything by the likes, comments, shares and reactions. Were things like this in the past? Most people miss the old days.
We are so busy in pretending that we are happy and at the end of the day, we all end up alone and lie in despair. All these technologies are just an illusion when we step away from these devices of delusion and confusion we can simply realize that we have become a slave of technology.
According to the research of Mental Health America – “Depression can occur to anyone, at any age, and to people of any race or ethnic group. Depression is never a ‘normal’ part of life, no matter what your age, gender or health situation.” And also according to another research of Harvard Graduate School, it has been found that- “As adults witness the rising tides of teenaged anxiety, it’s tough not to notice a common thread that runs through the epidemic — something that past generations never dealt with. Clutched in the hand of nearly every teen is a smartphone, buzzing and beeping and blinking with social media notifications.” These are making them sick day by day. Obviously technology has lots of advantages but we should not get addicted. And we should control our kids.
Our generation lies in frustration. Why? Because they are following us. Children always follow their elder and it’s natural. So if we want to see our children happy leading a healthy life we have to find solutions. We are the makers of our children’s life. It depends on us how we let it be. It’s high time we push our kids towards Creative things, like reading books, traveling, study, research, spending more time with families, talking with elders. An electronic device is essential for our daily life its true but it cannot be the treatment. It’s not a healthy life that we are letting them live. As an adult, it’s the duty of every parent, teacher, guardians, mentors and elder siblings. Our nation depends on their better future. We should not let them be destroyed in the hands of social media, anxiety, and depression. It’s high time we should take serious steps.
Mugdhomoyee is a student of MA at Jagannath University, Dhaka.
