Dynamic Youth - July 2008 (www.dynamicyouth.org)

Dear Youth of the world,
She was the only daughter of a rich merchant, an innocent girl of eight years. There was a 17 year old boy servant in the house, whom she loved as her own brother. She used to call him anna (elder brother) and was full of affection towards him.
A few days back, the boy stole some money and was caught red-handed. While her father decided to send him away, she pleaded for him with tears; she was not for letting him go. Moved by her entreaties, her father allowed him to stay.
After the annual vacation, her school reopened in the first week of June. She went happily to school; with sweet thoughts about new higher class, new teachers, new uniform, new friends and so on. She never returned.
Her parents searched for her everywhere. They complained to the Police. Missing the only angel of their family, all the members of the family suffered beyond words.
Next day, their neighbor got a phone call from the servant boy. He had kidnapped her and demanded a ransom of Rs.20 lakhs (two million); no clear directions were given. The boy must have been confused. The police caught him in a nearby town but he was giving many conflicting statements. He was taking them to several places. Finally, the police found the decomposed dead body of the girl hidden in a bush! The boy admitted that he had killed her by strangulating and then by dashing her head against a rock!
He said that he got the idea and inspiration to put it in action by seeing a Tamil TV serial. Many newspapers did not reveal this one detail. The newspaper which gave this information did not reveal which serial it was!
Media, especially the visual media is a powerful influence, especially on youngsters. The impressionable youth can be easily misled by it. In the interest of youth development, the information that the boy committed such a serious crime influenced by a serial, should have received wide publicity. The educational institutions should have raised their voice against not only that particular serial but also against all the serials falling under that category. It should have been discussed in all socially responsible forums. The political leaders should have come out with steps to curb such a menace. All the possible steps should have been taken to prevent such a thing happening again. But no such thing happened. This news also was consumed by the public and government like a piece of routine statistical information.
Violence is taught systematically from various angles in the television serials and cinemas. The Police are shown as partnering with nasty politicians and criminals. Sadly, nobody thinks of their impact on the minds of the youth.
What I have mentioned above is not the first of its kind; many such horrible things have happened and the culprits have also said that they were influenced by this or that film or serial. This is also not going to be the last.
All the responsible people and institutions should realize that such apathy and inaction are quite detrimental to youth development.
I also appeal to the you, the youth, to be careful about the bad influences affecting you. You should strengthen your will power; you should carefully choose the media that would help you grow as responsible citizens of the world. You should protest against the bad sources of influence and drive them away. If only you make them unprofitable, those money-chasers would shut their shops and start looking for some meaningful work.
Wishing you all the best,
T Joseph Benziger