Youth of today is the leader of tomorrow. They are to be guided and to put on the correct path. Putting them on the right path is what we are supposed to do, said D. Sivanandhan IPS, one of India's most well-known and highly regarded IPS officers.
"Today’s youth are connected to the internet, but disconnected from the real life. They have lot of friends in internet, but not in real life, which is a very dangerous situation"", Sivanandan, Retired Director General of Police (Maharashtra) said. He was talking on the side lines of the 20th annual celebration of Indian Frontlines in Kuwait. Former Central Minister Mr Salman Khurshid, Thanthi TV Chief News Editor Rangaraj Pandey, Frontliners Kuwait president Asad Khan and Founder Mr NC Mohandos were also present during the function.
"Today children are losing interest in people around them," he said. This can take them to a very dark age of losing interest in people around them and there are so many things we have to be controlled in indulge in, he said.
Today’s children in the age group of 15 - 24 are the highest active users of social media. 67% of teenagers are friends with strangers, but not friends with their own families, that is a big worry for me, he said.
We can see lot of teenagers from high profile families are becoming part of some or other terrorist organisations. Sitting in the remote part of the world, people can control the mind of the younger generation and take them to terrorist outfits, D Shivanandan who played a key role in breaking the Mumbai underworld said. "It is high time that parents are needed to communicate with their children", he said.
The insurgency and militancy is also a major problem today’s youth are facing. “I am deeply saddened by the scenes where young school girls are taking stone in their hands and attacking our army in Kashmir. This is the age at which they should sit in school and collages to study for their future”, the Mumbai super cop said. There is a need for us to change. Your future is created by what you are doing today, not tomorrow.
Modern youth are increasing being depressed and committing suicide. Most of the people committing are in the age of youth bracket. Addiction to drugs is also the raising concern. Simple warning of the text Smoking kills is not being looked at by the youngsters.
My advice to you is to have a grand vision about yourself. "If you don’t believe in yourself, who else will?" he asked. Children and the parents should have a grand vision about their life and try to achieve. The parents should have a best vision for their kids. You should have the passion about achieving your vision. Character is what you are. Let us build a special Indian character. Have this "I can do" kind of attitude, he said.
As a police man, I would like to say discipline is not just being punctual. It is persistence and perseverance. Another important thing is Ethics in your life. Ethics is part of your existence. Citing examples of personalities like Vijay Mally and Sathaym Raju, Shivanand stressed the importance of being ethical in our life. You have to take risk. Unless you stand up you cannot walk.
Computers are supposed to help us in saving our time. But today we are wasting our time on computer. I want to tell the students and parents to please spend more time on reading books. There is no shortcut at all. Obstacles are bound to be there. If obstacles are not there, there is no challenge in life. Unless you work hard you cannot achieve anything, he concluded.