Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions on it.
Young people are usually faced with several challenges as they grow up These challenges have increased dramatically as a result of the present impressive advances in science. The Internet and the mobile phone, for instance, have indeed reduced the whole world to a global village and given birth to social media. Social media itself has made it possible for anyone to instantly keep abreast with happenings all around the world.
But many people are worried that a lot of youths use social media in various negative ways that tend to ultimately increase the challenges they face in life. First, Internet chatting and dating have become common among youths, They spend valuable time in internet cafes or glued to their smart phones with the hope that through Skype or Facebook “luck” would come their way. The time wasted in this way could have been spent on studying and helping their parents with household chores.
Another downside of social media is the easy access to pornography that it offers. Attracted like gnats to bright light at night, many youths spend hours watching pornography This has the inevitable effect of corrupting their minds. in the fantasy world that pornography plunges them into. they care little for anything else. In the end, the casualties are their studies and their morals.
Again, youths are often driven by the “get rich quick” syndrome as they observe successful and affluent members of the society all around them who flaunt their wealth by driving expensive cars and living ostentatious lifestyles. Because many youths are seized by the irresistible desire to become like these people overnight, they readily resort to any available means to succeed, including cyber crime. Since face-to-face contact is not involved, it is easy for these misguided youths to plan and executive all manner of scams on social media.
What can be done to rescue the youths from these influences? First, parents have a crucial role to play. Many youths have improper home training and most parents leave their children to learn life’s lessons on their own. They allow them to find solutions to their problems with minimal guidance. The reality is that the sooner parents change their method of raising children, the better.
Teachers also have to play a crucial role. Teachers should realize that just as parents take over the responsibility of teaching when their children are at home, they in turn become the youth’s parents at school. They should therefore ensure not only that the right skills are taught the youth, but also that the right attitudes are instilled in them.
The society at large should also realize that at their impressionable age, youths are simply influenced by what they observe happening around them, whether good or bad. So, instead of emphasizing materialism and flaunting of wealth, the society’s responsibility towards the youths should be mainly to instil in them its norms, customs and values through proper role modelling. Then the world will become a better place for the youth, because they will be able to control their own destiny.
(a) In three sentences, one for each, summarize the negative influences of social media on youths.
(b) In three sentences, one for each, summarize what must be done to rescue the youths from these influences.
Explanation
(a) (i) Social media encourage youths to waste valuable time.
(ii) Social media exposes youths to pornography/Social media corrupts the minds/morals of youths
(iii) Social media encourages youths to engage in cybercrime
(b) (i) Parents should bring up their children properly
(ii) Teachers should instil the right skills and attitudes in the youth.
(iii) The society should produce proper role models for youths OR The society should instil its values in youths