Trapped In An Online Maze


T
he world is changing and the lifestyle of people is going through vigorous evolutionary processes. The endless pros and cons of modern day gadgets have stirred a dilemma regarding their potency and vitality. Gaming and other online platforms which are explicitly a modern day phenomenon, has become the centre of media attention for the past few days.

The bitter reality was exposed a few days ago when a nine year old boy who was undergoing treatment to game addiction, succumbed to death due to drug overdose. The long chain of slavery that finally hangs its prey is not new to us. The stage was first alerted when the game called Bluewhale hacked the life of more than 15 teenagers in India alone.

PUBG or the Playerunknown’s Battleground is an online game developed by a South Korean firm Bluehole. The game consumes nearly half an hour for a single match and midway exit is not possible. Not only has it robbed your time but also your concentration and your soft skills .PUBG has become a reliable drug for those with poor social connections to kill their time. But the stark reality is that your disease will never get cured but rather makes you addicted.

There are many instances that reveal the horrid behavior of the game 
  • A youth in Madhya Pradesh who was so engrossed in the game drank acid instead of water
  • A bright student in Karnataka wrote about how to play PUBG game in his Pre-University Economics exam.
  • A twenty year old boy in Telengana was admitted to hospital with severe neck pain after playing PUBG continuously for 45 days and later surrendered to death.  


    The intervention came after The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has sought a report from the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology regarding the steps taken to ban the PUBG game. The initiative has in fact compelled the authorities to set a playtime restriction of 6 hours a day in India. But the lackadaisical attitude of the authorities in dealing with the corporate has further aggravated the situation.

Banning the game is not practical though it may get overwhelming response from parents. Because the online platform is undergoing rapid transformations and this deadly contagion is deeply rooted. From Bluewhale, Momo and PUBG to Netflix the chain of slavery never ends. The need of the hour is to have concentric efforts to bring the attention of teenagers back to books and grounds.

A detailed study cites the need for creating awareness among youth to deal with their time fruitfully. Schools should be able to engage students with social activities through their curriculum. My humble advice to all is to go back to nature, breathe some fresh air and enjoy the serenity that nature has gifted us.

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