Perils of the Google Generation

As I move out of my house, in the evening, for a regular walk, I am stunned by what I see. The eeriness, of the vacant park, which lies before me, grips me and I stand paralyzed with shock, reminiscing my childhood days. When I was six years old I used to get on my mother’s nerves to take me to the park for an outing which proved as a refreshment. The parks, at that time, used to be as crowded as wholesale markets on Sundays.

Before my eyes, lay vacant swings, yearning for human companionship. They were as still as statues. The park was so silent that it seemed to be mourning for the playful and eccentric soul of children which has been slaughtered by technology. Technology has a major hand in turning young children into nothing but gadget savvy brainless robots.

A peek into a small house, near the park reveals that the children are busy on their laptops, but they are unable to realize that the force of technology is gripping them too, killing their creativity. Dependency of children on what is available, rather than what is right has become the trend. Since parents fail to give time to their children, it would not be a “shell-shocking” moment, to see a four year old, busy playing “candy crush” on his i-pad. They, thus lack the communication skills, but have mastered the skill of succeeding any level of a game online.

The children of today, are bound to suffer from anxiety and depression when they grow up because they have no clue about what the happiness of success and distress of failure is like, because their virtual world provides them with “multiple chances” , sound of which, will send people into fits of laughter in the real world. Virtual world is a distraction, the farther away people are from it, the better it will be.

My heart skipped a beat, when I saw a young boy, merely five years of age entering the park blissfully. Running behind him is his sister. She runs faster to get hold of the swing, but fails. His laughter echoed in the park and swiftly, the gloomy atmosphere was replaced by a merry one. I thanked God and there rekindled a ray of hope in my heart, that no matter what happens, there will still be some people, who will make the world, worth living in.