What Lies in Private Internet World of Teenagers?
A representative image of a kid hooked to internet (Image credit GrokAI)
Why Teachers Are Alarmed with Changing Psyche of Teenagers?
By Bhawna Malik
New Delhi, April 10: Watching unfiltered, uncensored content on OTT platforms is turning teens into violent personalities. Teenagers are hooked to internet, going into shells, to create a world of own where they don’t desire intrusion.
But will banning the net serve the purpose? Or, an active participation and partnership of family, society and educational institutions is required to rebuild positive and productive personalities.
Adolescence series at Netflix has shocked and sparked a debate among parents, teachers, child rights activists, and also sections of the media. Since its release on March 13, more than 96 million people have watched this series that is based on the themes of misogyny, online radicalisation, adolescent aggression and online toxic culture that loosely translate into ‘Manosphere’, in which common teenage male insecurities of romantic failure can shape male psyche into resentment and hatred for the female counterpart.
The series has also led to a conversation surrounding the impact of social media. or in other words, the uncensored content available on OTT platforms that has in subtle ways hijacked the teen psyche and also forced them to believe and behave in certain ways due to FOMO (Fear of Missing Out).
According to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting there are around 57 OTT platforms in India. The more popular are Netfilx, Amazon Prime, Prime Video, Disney+ Hotstar, Zee5, Sony Liv, MX Player, and others. The content available on these platforms is for the age group of 18 years and above. But excessive and uncensored foul language, slangs, violence and sexual intimate scenes raise concerns about impact on teenagers.
The worst scenario can be witnessed at the ‘Ullu’ web series ‘Charam Sukh’. The series is nothing short of a porn with no restraint or censor on nudity and the illegitimate sexual relations being the central theme of the series. The sexual encounters between brother-in-law and sister-in-law, father-in-law and daughter-in-law, servant and the owner, multiple sexual partners and one night stand are mainstreamed in a suggestion as if sex is the only saviour.
These sexual encounters or one night stands openly portrayed on screen have impacted the teens which has been one of the reasons for phone addiction, porn addiction and in some cases masturbation addiction and that too masturbating openly in cinema halls, school buses, classrooms and examination halls.
The impact of OTT content on the young impressionable in an era of social media influencers in fact has raised alarm amongst the counsellors, teachers, parents and the authorities who have no ready mechanism in place to undo the damage done or save the future generations.
Besides, an unrestricted access to internet exposes teenagers and even small children to addictive algorithm that expose kids to gambling and pornography. Popular Japanese Amine series shows school going kids discussing partner-swapping.
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