Have you ever considered the obsession that young people have with Facebook? At present this category of social media has almost topped the list of most popular medium of expression among the world’s youth. Facebook is one of the most searched items on the World Wide Web. Sounds weird, doesn’t it? But like most youth, I too log onto Facebook every morning when I awake and every night before I go to sleep. Additionally, countless times during the day I find myself ‘Face-booking’. This trend almost consumes the 24 hours of the world’s youth today.
Though Facebook may appear to be harmless on the surface, we should stop to consider the negative effects that this fad has on or spiritual, physical and mental health as well as on our personal identity. As a young Hindu, I have realised that we neglect important facets of our lives that can redound to our own detriment later on. Just to list a few things that may suffer because of our cyber-cravings:
- We forget our daily duties. We forget to thank God every morning.
- We forget that early morning is ‘jal-offering time’, to worship Surya Bhagavan. Instead quite often we use that time to feast our eyes on Facebook. Yes, Facebook is the newest Bhagavan in town, it seems!
- Physical health suffers with the continuous eyeing of the phone/computer screen.
- We lack the development of creativity, physical recreation, problem-solving skills and discriminatory abilities.
- Being surrounded by oneself, loneliness and depression may set in.
However, a proper time schedule can solve many of the above-listed negativities. Engage yourself in your daily duties. Start reading the holy scriptures, worship a little more often, become more involved in your religion as well as community activities; you will be amazed to see how much you can learn from your ancestors and also your peers. I have even learnt a great deal from many of my co-workers about my religion. Hence, instead of coming home and wasting unnecessary time on social media, I research a little more about stories relating to the Shiv Purana and other religious books. In addition, visiting a home for children or the elderly can remind you how important life is and just how lucky you are to have certain things in your life. Thank God and keep engaging yourselves in charity. As the great Mahatma Gandhi once said, “You must be the change you want to see.”
By Purnam Heeraman, Mathematics Teacher II
SWAHA Hindu College
