I am 16 years old, just about a man. Here I try to examine my relationship and that of people in my age group with a very complex object called the mobile phone.
I'm in a battle of dominance with my phone that makes our relationship a rather complicated one. Think of it, a phone is not merely a means to an end but is my constant companion. And I get a feeling that my phone has a parasitic tendency, it lures me into doing things that make me feel physically and emotionally drained.
It’s the window to the world, subservient to my needs, that provides me with what I need to know, see, and watch without questioning my intentions or for that matter judging me. It is a limitless source of information, including things that I may not be ready for, and it can get me easily swayed or distracted. It’s a convenient way to hook on to the notional world that has deep consequences in our real life.
I'm in a battle of dominance with my phone that makes our relationship a rather complicated one. Think of it, a phone is not merely a means to an end but is my constant companion. And I get a feeling that my phone has a parasitic tendency, it lures me into doing things that make me feel physically and emotionally drained.
I instinctively miss the absence of my phone, which makes its presence in my life nearly all-pervasive. The association with the phone, at least in my case, is sort of amorphous. I may end up spending hours with it and recall nothing of what we did. These arbitrary and meaningless activities with my phone feel so fulfilling and engaging. And this is often dubbed by our elders as a ‘waste of time.’ Thanks to my phone, I’m hardly ever bored. And boredom is a must for creative juices to flow. This constant engagement with the phone has made us less aligned with our creativity.
Phones become a habit so deep-rooted that we start engaging with them for our emotional needs. So it doesn’t just distract us from our creativity but also conditions the way we react to certain potent emotions: like happiness, sadness, and stress to name a few. It only provides temporary respite and defers facing the reality of life as it is. As a result, we are disconnected from the present and live vicariously through our phones.
This not-so-innocent need for constant gratification and stimulus can lead us to some dark places. We can easily fall prey to radical ideologies and ideas, which can be even genocidal. These dark spaces provide a haven to people who have a constant need to blame others for their plight. But young impressionable minds get swayed and hatred percolates into their value system.
And because of the reach of the Internet, such ideas spread like wildfire. After all, the Internet is a convenient vehicle to spread these venomous views. These radical viewpoints are very captivating, especially in video format, and this provides an instant way of monetising their content as social networking sites algorithms are designed to feed on outrage and far-right reactionary content.
This is the age of transition from a child to an adult in which our minds and bodies are in flux. Sexuality, relationship, and intimacy are things that we discuss among peer groups. The LGBTQ+ movement has had a resonance in our times and in our age group. A growing number of school children in their teens don’t want to identify with the gender binary and don't want to conform with he/him or she/her pronouns, instead going by 'they/them’ or 'ze' and 'zir'.
When I initially heard the 'ze' and 'zir' pronouns, I confused them with a racial slur. I sometimes forget to use these alternative pronouns. This doesn’t mean that I’m trying to come across as offensive, though I receive flack for this anyway. And much of this is reaching us via phones. I get the feeling that these pronouns are facades to appear different and in some measure to seek attention.
I believe that gender identity exists in a spectrum and goes beyond the binary of male and female. I’m okay with people choosing their preferred ‘pronouns’ but it’s not acceptable to get militant about it and shame people for forgetting their preferred set of pronouns. It’s akin to my friend taking offence to me not remembering their favourite colour.
I find this to be a bigoted approach as they are forcing their beliefs on us, and they call the people who resist their views on sexuality intolerant. I feel they are intolerant of the point of view of others. Also, what I find extremely odd is the sheer explosion in the number of people who claim to be non-binary, particularly in my age group. I thought they were a minority. And this whole posturing seems like a ploy to look unique or garner sympathy.
Phones make potentially harmful content easily accessible and also accord privacy in doing so. Take for example e-cigarettes or vapes. It is marketed to attract a younger demographic as they are packaged in brightly coloured boxes, with a wide variety of flavours to choose from: blueberry, banana, gummy bear, buttered popcorn, and many more. Also, they can be a gateway to harder and more dangerous drugs. Like phones, vapes are addictive and can cause serious health issues. There are reported cases of people dying from smoking vapes. And numerous studies show a correlation between the overuse of phones and depression among teenagers.
Long-distance relationships, or just casual intimacy, have become a viable option thanks to technology, especially mobile phones, and it has worked very well for many. But the situation is a bit different when it comes to our age group. There are numerous instances reported of older people ‘catfishing’ teens or 'sextortion' that "involves coercing victims into providing sexually explicit photos or videos of themselves, then threatening to share them publicly or with the victim's family and friends.” And if this is not enough, ‘Deepfake AI’ is used to create convincing images, audio and video hoaxes. It is possible to transform existing source content where one person is swapped for another. This is happening in New York, London, Delhi, Mumbai and even smaller cities in India.
I have to say the life of a teen growing up with technology is radically different from what it was 30 years ago, and I can't even imagine what it will be like in the next 30 years.
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