The forest creaks and sways as the harsh winds blow against it. The sturdy pine trees covered with snow stand still, buried deep in the ground. There are no signs of any animals since they have all gone to sleep until spring arises. The birds have migrated away from here too but I mean, who can blame them right? It’s winter and everyone is inside their houses drinking hot chocolate while watching movies. The only one that’s out here smiling right now apart from Joe the caretaker is me.
I’ve been here for approximately 15 minutes now but I’m going to make it quick because my time is running out. I am a snowman and the only time you can see me is in the winter when it snows. You must be wondering how I got stuck in the middle of the woods right? Well, a group of kids came out of nowhere, built me, took some pictures and left. I got bored and thus I am documenting my life, I don’t have much to do anyway. An average snowman lasts for about five hours before melting away into a giant puddle of water, stones and a carrot. We snowmen don’t really do much apart from smile. We don’t eat, we don’t sleep, we don’t do anything really and we are really low maintenance (but then again we are inanimate so it makes sense).
Even though I don’t get to be around for long, I really enjoy the fun people have building us and playing around in the snow. The kids who just built me for instance were having a great time building me. Building snowmen is one of the greatest and most time consuming winter activities. However it is definitely worth all the hard work because at the end you get a snowman like me! One thing all us snowmen want to do in our short lives is feel the Sun’s warmth, like Olaf in Frozen. That obviously won’t work but one can always dream right? There aren’t many adventures we go on since we are stationary but the view is quite nice from here.
Well that’s basically my autobiography. I was going to talk about just my life and that’s it but I ended up talking about a lot more things. My life is pretty short so I had to add a couple more things to make it sound more interesting. In case any of you were wondering about the life of a snowman, here it is. Alright, I’ll be signing off now because it looks like those kids are back with a scarf. Good day humans, see you next winter.
Indiscriminate use of Social media by students during the pandemic and its impact
Sreepriya Unnikrishnan
Social media addiction among teens and young adults has increased multifold during the pandemic. It is considered a behavioral disorder in which the individuals are totally captivated or trapped by social media and are unable to free themselves from its clutches despite clear consequences and drawbacks. Teenagers engage in some form of social media or other or if not several, on a daily basis (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, Twitter, Discord, Video games).
This has led to increased indiscriminate and blind consumption of media, increased dependence on social media as a way to feel good, losing out on physical social engagements, causing a negative impact on learning, strained relationships with family and friends.
A very important cause for concern is the decline in mental health as a result of increased Social media addiction and also the fact that Social media is an easy platform for online aggression, cyberbullying, impacting the emotional wellbeing of children. All this has led to a decreased focus on academics and a decline in academic performance.
FOMO or ‘Fear Of Missing Out is apparently “that uneasy and sometimes all-consuming feeling that you're missing out on or not being included in what your peers are doing”, which is another main reason why teenagers are unable to be off social media.
The only way to save our youth from the fangs of social media addiction is not to totally deprive them of their engagement on Social media, but to prevent addiction to it by way of supporting them and guiding them to engage with social media safely, responsibly, and effectively.
We need to remind them to balance their time spent online with chores, homework, spending quality time with family and friends rather than being cooped up in front of the computer or phone screens all the time. It is important to keep a watch on the activities the children are engaged in instead of allowing them to be all by themselves and engage liberally with social media.
While this is indeed an uphill battle, we still can have an influence on the way our children see the effects of social media, helping them make the right decisions.
I walked and walked
Through an empty corridor,
Alongside creaking doors,
Was I being stalked?
I shot up at once,
and looked for the light,
Waking my friend,
Who knew I’d had a nightmare, so held my hand
And put me back to bed, giving me the might...
I cycled to school, all pale
Not knowing if I was prepared enough
For the exam would be hard,
Would I pass? Would I fail?
I was dropped at the gates,
By my friend, of course, holding my hand,
Always there, to calm me down,
And who left, as I met my mates...
“Congratulations!” “You did great!”
My teachers and peers, Said after the presentation,
I was flying over the moon,
happiest with my fate
Too proud, I’d been,
You taught me who I was, in a way I understood
Grounded me again, my friend,
Held my hand, said I’d been a little mean...
Cold with the flu,
Shivering all over,
Couldn’t go to school,
My finger-tips were blue
My mother was home,
To look after me but,
she had a lot of work to do, Once more, my friend was there,
To hold my hand, to hug me in a dome...
You’ve been here with me for so many eves,
When the others refused to play,
You brought me to our lawn,
held my hand And played with the leaves...
I’ve looked up to you for everything, dear friend,
About me, you have never been wrong
You’ve held my hand and shown me the way,
You are much more to me than just, A figment of my imagination
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