It has now turned as social malady

Staff Correspondent:

The addiction of social media including Facebook, YouTube and TikTok is increasing alarmingly among the youths especially students day by day during the corona pandemic. As a result, various types of criminal activities including gang culture by teenagers are on the rise across the country. It has also now turned into social malady.

Experts said, all kinds of educational institutions including schools, colleges and universities have been remained closed in the country for more than a year due to corona pandemic. Although, some institutions conduct online education activities for few times, many students are spending most of their leisure time due to closure of educational institutes. During this time, they are getting addicted to different online platforms including Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and Likee.

They said, students have to spend some lazy time in leisure period as there is no opportunity for physical presence at the educational institutions.

At the same time, due to lack of communication with other classmates or friends, students can’t carry their other normal co-curricular activities in the educational environment. Students are leaning towards this opportunity on virtual platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and Likee. The number of users on these platforms has tripled during this time compared to earlier, said a survey report.

At the same time, facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok are also providing various offers to increase video content creators around the world. Besides, those offers have the opportunity to earn cash. In addition, those have become a platform of spending time, getting entertainment and earning money as well as the platforms is running a vicious competition for virtual fame.

Rokeya Banu, a guardian from Farmgate in the capital said, her 13-year-old daughter used to study through online, but she used to watch videos on YouTube to pass leisure time due to lockdown. Besides, the girl was given a smart device for attending at online classes. But now, I see that she makes various contents with herself for uploading on YouTube.

Rasheda K Chowdhury, an advisor to the former caretaker government and executive director of the mass literacy campaign said, “The capacity of use Smartphones is still low among students in our country. Especially students of grassroots level can’t purchase Smartphone with high price. Besides, those, who have the Internet, may not be as good as expected. So, I think the issue is still under control, which we need to take action before it gets worse.”

Psychiatrist Mohit Kamal said, “It is true that the presence of students on YouTube and TikTok has increased due to the closure of educational institutions. We allowed smart devices for the students in which they can attend at classes. But, a part of them is getting engaged in different anti-social activities after watching YouTube, Facebook and even porn sites. This is why, all parents need to be more careful in this pandemic period as all the educational institutions have been closed.”

Dr. Mohit Kamal further said that, the decision to open the educational institution was almost final a few days ago, but it did not happen due to surge of the Indian variant in the country as third wave. If the situation improves, the educational institution can be opened.”