Influence Of Television On Today’s Youth

Being a youth myself, I have experienced the many results of media today. According to the olden days, media is supposed to be the ultimate source of information and entertainment, but to what extend is this source being utilized is my question? I do agree to the fact that people seek for entertainment pleasing to the eye and something that BBC and CNN or any other documentary channels do not provide. The very reason why I was compelled to bring to light this topic is the very fact that media serves as the main server of control for not only the youth but also the various stages of life starting from a mere 2year old up to well say...till the last breath of humanity. Media is so important in our lives today that it is so true, media is, in fact, one of those many things that keeps us going.

The power of media is something no body can define because it is something that we all look forward to the moment we open our eyes in the early morning and shut them with, that very night. In fact, media is so much a part of most of our lives today that we may not even realize how much effect it has on an individual's life. We depend so much in media especially on television that we are even ready to skip breakfast but not dare miss that show on TV. Television is one of the best ways of driving information into our system, whether good or bad. We may not learn as much as through reading but through Television say watching television is one of the best ways by which we grab things that are so much catching to our eye. But are we learning the right things? Are we utilizing this information in the right manner?

Television affects us in many ways that majority of our actions are influenced by the movies and the music industry of today. Some of us even tend to live like the celebrities and TV stars, not knowing that in real life it's going to be a completely different scenario. Television can unknowingly influence ones personality and can affect their surroundings as well. Most of us tend to live like the celebrities these days. In fact, not only do we talk like them, dress like them, walk like them, perhaps maybe even eat like them but we have also begun to behave like them, only difference is that they're living the celebrity life where things could be a bit more different than that lead by an ordinary person. But too late, we have already started responding to matter irresponsibly thinking, just like how in the movies, it will all go away. We are living in a much different world now, a fantasy in which everything comes to our footsteps and all we need to do is ask for it or just wish. Nowadays we tend to worship the big stars and the huge personalities that when they cry, we too cry and when they laugh, we laugh with them. We have failed to discover ourselves or who we really are, instead, we rather prefer to hide beneath the cover in disguise and become what we're not hoping that it will bring us more success than it would, if we be ourselves including changing our name thinking that if we modify an ordinary Sam Cristus to the ever popular Tom Cruise or a simple Bob Bitt to Brad Pitt, we have a better chance hitting it to the big office where matters are much more intense than just names. We are forgetting our duties as an individual and the very reason we are put into this world. I myself have experienced one simple example of how I failed to discover myself instead I always preferred being someone I was a huge fan of 'Avril Lavigne'. I used to dress like her and try to act cool and developed a 'don't care about what others think' attitude. But guess I had to learn it the hard way and finally, I came to my senses that, well, it is quite not practical when it comes to my lifestyle and from where I was brought up. But luckily, I was able to realize this one impractical act much earlier than it actually seriously affected me. So I was lucky, but maybe not many others who are still caught up in a whirlpool of illusions where they are lost trying to imitate their beloved artists or stars expecting the surroundings to react in the same manner as in movies and when things don't go the way it should, we get unnecessarily frustrated and angry with ourselves and maybe even others around us. The ones affected are us not any of them. And we cannot blame anyone for it because it is just a matter of self realization and it involves just you and me. And why I prefer the youth to be addressed about this matter is because we make the majority of the world's population and only we can do something about this and prevent those below us from engulfing into this ideal world where we have forgotten the real meaning of hard work and true success.

Recently, I had read about something that touched me immensely and I am sure most of you must have already read/heard the news about three school children who murdered two other kids in their same school thinking that owing to their death, their school will declare a holiday. What were these once innocent kids thinking? Do they really know what they were doing? Who do we blame? I do hope that watching too much of television was not one of the reasons for such an act, or the source from which they learnt all these techniques or even got their idea from. Where were their parents during all this?

Most of the music videos are all about love and sex or maybe even something in between. What happens to us is that, these thoughts stay in our head and knowingly or unknowingly we believe that that is how things are supposed to be and forget the real meaning of what we once knew and were taught. Well, life's just not all about love or sex or fake personalities. It about how we live our life and what we do and how it's done that counts because who knows how long we'll be given the privilege to enjoy the luxury that every year offers us. I wish the songs and videos would contain more meaningful words and scenes instead of 'I love you, you love me, I touch you, you touch me, I kiss you, you kiss me...well, these are things that all of us already know, I just wish they could sing about something more dramatic or meaningful, instead of showing young girls walking around hardly having anything on.. because trust me I'm having quiet a hard time making sure my nieces and nephews do not end up watching any of those at such an early age itself but how can I, every time I switch on my TV, all I see is this. I hope the younger generation, much below us, wont end up actually doing so in real life...or do they? I do wish the music producers and who ever is in control of this matter would do something about this instead of just focusing on the profit that is assured, when the youth or anybody for that matter is satisfied with the matter that is put to display. I really wonder if that's going to ever work because money is something that can blind a person and as the saying goes 'Money is something that people would even die for'.. Well, perhaps the only answer lies within us. So when do we begin hunting for it...maybe the day we start to experience it ourselves, But do we have to wait that long... What if that day never comes?

What about the times when our role models would be Princess Diana, Gandhi, Mother Theresa...oh yes, how times change...I remember as a child, when I was often asked who my role model was, I used to wonder who did the most for the people, and their good acts ?..But if asked me now, I don't know who exactly to say...because right now I cannot think of anybody whose capable of winning that auspicious title these days especially among the youth who still has a long way to go about learning our cultures and traditions, and about how life used to be without the television and how people used to find happiness among their family themselves, when they used to work hard and truly believed in one person who brought us into this world. We the youth have still lots to learn about life and what all it has got to offer.

Let us not be ignorant any more. It's high time we know what's right and what's truly wrong. Let us contribute and correct each other and teach ourselves how to become a true celebrity within ourselves and how to be a good role model among ourselves and maybe even one day be another version of our great leaders who had once given up their lives so that we live and enjoy the luxury that life is offering us now. How can we put all their efforts to waste? Let us be grateful to our ancestors who have worked hard for our future and thank them by our simple acts of goodness. Let us be someone, say a younger version of Gandhi perhaps.

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Source by Juliann George