By: Mangkholun Touthang
With our country facing the deadly Covid’s second wave, it has brought difficulties in every sphere of life. The shop where a lot of people used to buy their needs is now locked, the tourist spot which attracted lots of tourists is now closed, the road where there’s often traffic jam is now empty, the school where hundreds of students used to meet everyday and learn new things together is now vacant. Only hospitals are now busy and crowded. A hospital is not a place where you find peace or make money or enjoy yourself, rather it’s a place of sorrow and grief where one’s life is between life and death. We want it or not, hospitals are the only institutions left to us by the coronavirus which is so unfortunate. Covid has claimed lakhs of lives, destroyed many business organisations, and ruined the lives of crores of students in the country. Among all the impacts it has on the country, its impacts on the lives of students across the country has become a major concern. Students are the pillars of this nation and if their learning is disturbed it not only affects their way of life but could bring huge loss to the nation itself. Because one day they could become a leader and their leadership would be inefficient if they don’t learn new things today. The growth and prosperity of this nation count on them and so they are the backbone of this country. So it’s no wonder they are called the pillars of a nation. Therefore, it’s vital for them to continue on with their learning in spite of their inability to go to schools anymore.
But what I’ve found out is that students make lockdowns and curfews as an excuse to avoid reading their books. Many good students who were once quite intelligent and educated are now becoming dull and ignorant on account of their excessive use of smartphone. Some have even found it hard to write stuff on a notebook because of their long disuse of pen and pencil. Some have never read books for months. And some have even forgotten their studentship. It should not be like this, students have to always remember their status or who they are and continue to do their duties i.e. to read and write books, to practice good habits like waking up early in the morning, helping their parents with chores, and stuff like these. Yes, reminding these may sound like a bit of a cliché but it is something crucial students often lack. And when they lack these skills or fail to perform them for a long period of time, sloth and ignorance begin to dominate their young minds. Particularly teenagers, their period is the period when the brain works faster and could retain what is learnt for a long period of time and so it’s a great opportunity for them to learn things from books and from every source everyday, every hour, and every minute. I’d advise my fellow learners to read a book for atleast 1 hour a day, write two or three pages of an essay or story or article, and do some chores everyday. It might be hard at the beginning but as you keep on doing, it’d become a habit which would be very helpful for you.
And one of the things that’s keeping away students from studying is mobile phone. Reminding this too sounds like a cliché. But when we deeply think of the destructive influences it has on learners, it’s so dangerous that it is sometimes better to not use it at all and it makes one want to recall of the time when smartphones were almost nonexistent, the time when everybody read books and kept themselves busy with it. There’s nothing wrong with having a phone but it’s the excessive use of it that creates the problem. And it has become obvious that the negative effects of mobile phone usage outweighed the benefits. You see, mobile phone has ruined the lives of thousands of good students, created problems in the family, made the brain dull and work slower, and even 3 years old kids are now addicted to it. One study found empirical proof that students who spend a lot of time using their mobile phone become socially deficit. If this trend goes on, our society is indeed in danger. One day all you could see would be a kid holding his smartphone and playing games without carrying any useful knowledge in his mind. Students are now so addicted to phone that all they could think about is phone, they can’t think of anything else.
Therefore, it has become crucial to schedule phone times. And as you schedule phone times and follow them for like a week or month, some noticeable things will happen. If you were a heavy phone user, you will realise how much time you have spent on unproductive things. After a while, it will become pretty easy and natural for you to be without your phone. That way you can start to love reading books again and spend only a little time on your phone and derive benefit from lockdowns and curfews.
