Few months back I got a chance to interview Shahid Afridi. A day before the interview I went to the Regal Electronic Market of Karachi to purchase an audio recording device. While looking for the recorder, we passed through the city’s largest cell phone market. It was almost 9 p.m. but still very noisy and crowded there. Many people were infusing their cell-phones with ring-tones, some were trying to fill the bellies of their handsets with cheap songs and some were selling used sets to buy newer ones. At one shop, as I was peeking at different things and colorful gadgets, I saw some pornographic material in a cell phone. I was shocked to see something like that in a public place. As I noticed things more closely I saw that every other shop was busy in transferring such material into the sets. Cell phones, which are usually used in the civilized world as tools of communication, have been transformed into micro-cinema houses in Pakistan which run adult stuff at very low costs. I noticed that most of the customers in those shops were very young people, mostly in their teens.
Then I recalled how one of my friends once showed his cell phone to us which was filled with same material. He told me that his mobile has a memory card of 20 GB and that made it possible for him to carry several 45 to 50 minutes’ length films in it. I asked him from where he got all that stuff and he laughed at the stupidity of my question. He told me sheepishly that Saddar is the best market for such stuff at very nominal rates. But it was the set that ranged around 15000 to 20000 PK Rupees and that is not affordable at all for our youngsters to carry such expensive appliances. But those who cannot get access to such things are doing number of other things with their cell-phones.
I have been teaching from number of years in one capacity or other so I have interacted with students from primary classes to Masters Level. And believe me no one is safe from this mafia which is ruining the minds of our youngsters. These days everyone carries 3 to 4 sim cards firstly because they are absolutely cheap and secondly because it is easy to give everyone its due share by having 3 to 4 different numbers. Then due to cheaper packages of mobile companies which costs nothing more than few hundred rupees they talk to each other whole nights. I definitely don’t understand how they manage to pay attention to the school and college classes in the morning. Carrying 5 to 6 inches’ long mobile sets switching it to the vibration mode hiding from the eyes of elders at the houses is a piece of cake for our youngsters. You can notice it yourself how many children own their own mobile set. Are we getting the whole point? Are we thinking what this trend can do to our young generation?
We feel elated when we see a new package offered by any telecommunication company. We feel irritated when we see that telecommunication sector does not provide enough employment chances because it is not labor intensive industry but do we ask question what this trend of money making is doing to the tender and impressionable minds?
I also need to ask one very relevant question here. What is the role of teachers and parents in all this? We see bigger campaigns for the eradication of polio, hepatitis and other physical illnesses but what is our role to prevent this soul-killing epidemic? Providing each and every facility to our children is our goal irrespective of what it can do to their future on the hindsight. I usually involve parents when it comes to the use of internet and cell-phones but parents generally reply that no, no my kid is very naive; he does not feel like doing such vulgar things. Then I feel tempted to ask that whether their kid is not human who is not immune from the attacks of evil which never let any opportunity go by easily to annihilate us, humans. I just want to know is there anyone listening because out there is a jungle and especially responsible and good parenting becomes a weapon to survive.
Photo Credits: Flickr here
Wow readers. You are one tough crowd. :) The mention of Shahid Afridi was just a way to get started. Don’t give him such a hard time about it. Who’ll want to post on ATP again with this kind of needless crticism?
Some of you seem to be suggesting that it’s ok for teenage boys to look at porn, or that it’s somehow justified, or that it’s better than some of the other activities they could be doing. Now, that kind of thinking actually does deserve critcism.
OffTopic: Ahsan, if that interview is/was/will be for some newspaper then I would prefer to wait otherwise it would be nice if you share that interview with blog readers.
Syed, you’ve got to be kidding, right? Comparing pornography to polio, hepatitis and other physical illnesses and then complaining it’s not given enough attention?
We’ve just had an election, the country is in judicial ruins, a dictator is clinging onto power, the lal masjid incident is combing back to light and here we are talking about sexual tendencies of teenage boys. HAH! Lad, there are much more important things to discuss rather than what’s stored in the hard disks of cellphones.
If you insist on talking about repressed sexuality start by deconstructing why a young man would want to view pornography on his cellphone. I have theories of my own, but I’m not comfortable going on a hypothetical rant on a forum like Pakistaniat.
I think the writer is confused and is simultaneously caught up in four different issues.
1) Shahid Afridi…what’s his relevance to this again?
2) Mobile phone market in Pakistan: the fact that people carry around 3 SIMs is excellent and proves just how much choice consumers have…if you had to deal with the locked up cell phone market in the U.S. and had to be forced to buy a $30+ plan, sign up for a 1 year agreement, and be clobbered with massive fines when you go over your limit, you would change your opinion.
3) Too much interest in cell phones: yes, I did notice this as well…however, pop culture fads come and go, and I don’t see much harm in this. The cell phone has sort of become a status symbol for SOME people…..if it not for this, then the very same people would be using clothes, cars, etc the same way. If there’s a wide interest in putting songs as ring-tones, then what’s the harm….there are people who listen to their iPods ALL DAY LONG and that is obviously bad for them, but we don’t make a fuss about that, do we?
3) Pornographic content. With every technology, comes the potential for abuse. This just reminds us of the fact that technology is not a substitute for good parenting!! Banning Internet access completely would be a very good way to drastically reduce such activities…but is that practical? I’m sure people in the ’50s (or whenever the landline phone became mainstream) were similarly worried about their children talking to other people.
Also, there is a lot of hypocrisy in this issue; I’m amazed at what is now considered tolerable in terms of content on TV. Families freely watch nearly pornographic material on Indian channels and movies, and they are shocked when their children are trying to go to the next level in what is an obvious progression.
I think the message of the post is simple and clear that there is a need to keep adult material away from under-age segment of population. Parents and teachers need to play an important part in this awareness. I am totally with the writer in getting this point across.