It was around the mid sixties. The river in our native town had swelled and flowing in full swing and it took an acute turn in the place where we were bathing. I was suddenly pulled away by the current and started sinking. My elder brother who jumped in to save me also was caught in the powerful whirlpool. Life was coming to an end, it so appeared. Suddenly, trained hands pulled me by my hair and threw me on the banks and also my brother. Yes, my father was my first friend and teacher. He gave us freedom of thought and answered with gaiety to the barrage of questions we asked about the surroundings. Our family was my first friendly neighbourhood who imbibed me to worship and revere the true living God and our Saviour.
As the days grew, we were more influenced by the books we read and our friends. It was a true reflection of the statement: “Tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are”. We had a few close friends under the ever watchful eyes of our parents and teachers and elders.
Today’s scenario is totally different for the youth, due to explosion of information technology and connectivity through technology platforms like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and mobile phone. This has made it possible to have innumerable friends, known and unknown in the cyber world with the ability to communicate instantly, any time online with anyone or all of them simultaneously. This has also in the process diluted the “real” identities of many of our “cyber friends” which may be hidden throughout or may be revealed at an opportune moment to adversely influence us. This has made today’s youth more vulnerable to addictive behaviour, immorality, depressions and suicidal tendencies and non performance in academic and career life. It has become more challenging for today’s parents, teachers and administrators to protect and wean away the youth from the whirlpools of life.
The Holy Bible says,
“Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter and as a bird from the hand of the fowler (Proverbs 6:5)
It is true that in today’s nuclear families due to spatial dispositions, there are no elders to guide and nurture the young. It is true that today’s parents find little time to spend with children and nurture them due to ever increasing stressful job environments, which is getting worse every day without any meaning for “working hours”, again due to the adoption of technology platforms. Whereas the technology has brought economic prosperity, it has made gaping holes in our “inner person” due to the above said reasons.
