Actions have consequences

‘Drug, alcohol & tobacco usage would seriously affect your health. Snacking when not hungry makes you over weight. Good grades will get you into a good college and you’ll make more money’

There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences.” That’s what morals are, right? And we learnt them through our parents and reading Panchatantra, Tinkle, Chandamama etc. We might have frowned on them as we were growing but slowly and unconsciously they have become the basis of any choices that we make in life. They have also become the boundaries within which we lead our lives. Most of us have learnt these lessons between the ages 10-15 because at this age we were big enough to read and understand what we was getting preached and young enough to imbibe them to have a lasting impression.

Today, apart from parents and books, television and internet have become the source of learning. The time spent on reading books is getting chewed up by PSPs and X box. And these things are giving a whole new meaning to consequence. There is a popular internet site that gives the beginning of some famous kid stories and asks the kids to complete the story, any ending they wish. The gaming phenomenon is also slowly distorting the perspective towards life. Violence is the least of it. The young minds start to that you might die but if you earn enough points you can have three lives. On the way to rescuing the princess you might always make pots of money. Nothing is permanent…you can change it however and whenever. Now, as the kids grow up they might realize that all of this is not true. Yet such powerful statements must be making some significant impression on their developing minds.

Now, to understand the learnings that kids today are receiving lets go through some famous stories with morals and understand their relevance today with the advent of new media of learnings and expectations.

The hare and the tortoise
Moral of the story: Slow and steady wins the race
In this fast paced competitive world there is no place for this moral. Kids today are told that they cannot afford to be slow and before they are steady with one thing they are pulled out and put into something else.

Shravan
Moral of the story: Respect and sacrifice for your elders
There is no question that respecting elders is still the order of the day but today kids are encouraged to question their parents and teachers. Kids today are expected to listen to their parents but it’s not sacrosanct. Both parties have to come to a consensus and decision is taken.

Tiger and the greedy merchant
Moral of the story: Greed is bad
Across ages this statement doesn’t make sense anymore. Kids today are asked to do more, get more and aspire for more. Greed is no longer black or white. It’s a grey area which according to situation changes.

We can furnish many such morals and their changing significance but the moral of the story here is, with children learning from video games and internet they are growing up to believe that they can make their own ending and that there is nothing that cannot be repaired or salvaged.