The intrusion of social networking sites into our personal lives is so much that sometimes, we tend to cut ourselves off from the virtual world completely. We delete our Facebook profiles or close our Twitter accounts when an exam or important event is round-the-corner, as it needs full-time concentration and commitment from our end. However, in recent times, there have been instances where objections raised by the family members of people having an account on social networking sites have compelled them to break relationships or friendships developed through such sites.Even if you are among the lucky lot who are permitted to use such networking sites, your actions on such sites may be monitored by the elders in the family. Take f0r instance, the case of Radhika (name changed). She had to delete her Facebook profile permanently after she came under pressure from her family members who urged her to put an end to her relationship with her ex-boyfriend, who apparently had been cheating on her. A few months down the line, though all has returned to normalcy, she still finds herself away from Facebook due to family pressure. She says, “I broke all contact with my ex after I came to know of his true colours. But I did not realise then that I would be asked to stop using Facebook altogether. It has become so difficult to live without Facebook nowadays.”Being a media student, Radhika needs to use Facebook constantly for her project and work assignments. And without it, she simply feels helpless. “Most of our college assignments are tasks that need to be completed online. Even exams for that matter. Being unable to use Facebook is really frustrating,” she says. “If I were on Facebook, I would get to know all those last minute preparations which my friends do or the assignments which they post on the social networking site. Now, my friends make fun of me by using Facebook in front of me.”While there are scores like Radhika, there are also an equal number of people who face problem of another kind. A case in point is Subha, a third-year journalism student. “According to my mother, people who use Facebook are flirtatious, desperate to get partners or those who long to get company. She even asked me whether there was something called the 'delete' option there.I told her that 'I was not too much into all that’,” Subha laughs. “However, considering how Facebook has helped me in my college projects, my mother is a little less apprehensive of it now, though her fears of it have not died down completely.”But not all parents are apprehensive of their wards using social networking sites. Hari Janardhanan, a father of a grown-up child, says, “Some parents may object because they are suspicious of what their children are up to. As we use Facebook ourselves to be in touch with friends, I don’t think it’s right to ask children to abstain from doing so.”According to Dr V Muthukrishnan, consultant psychiatrist, Apollo Hospitals, parents should ‘regulate’ the internet activities of their children without interfering in their privacy. “If parents can allow their under-18 children to use cellphones, then what’s wrong with them using social networking sites,” he says. “However, there should be a fair amount of regulation from parents on how their children use the Internet.”In the case of Radhika, Dr Muthukrishnan says that if the child is ‘assertive’ and is able to explain to her parents the applications that will benefit her then, the parents would do well to listen to her.
Comments
0 comment