Mains Daily Question
Nov. 3, 2023
Q1) A child's moral compass is shaped by a variety of factors/agents. In the light of this statement, bring out the role of social media on the construction of a child's moral compass. (10M/150W)
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Approach Introduction: Can begin by a simple explanation of what child’s moral compass means or the need of an upright moral compass. Body: There are two broad dimensions to be addressed here, one listing out the agents which shape the morals of a child and two what role does social media play as an agent of shaping child’s morals and value system both in positive and negative manner. Conclusion: Need to take the cons discussed above and talk about how these can be minimized. What can be the role of parents, teachers etc. to ensure a healthy and upright compass. |
Answer: One’s values, attitudes towards life, work and others are generally shaped unconsciously by the family, and the social surroundings where one grows up. A child is like a blank slate and various agents act together to shape him, and all this decides his values, morals and attitudes, thus his moral compass.
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Agents/Factors shaping Moral Compass of a child: |
- Family: It is the first point of contact for a child, s/he imbibes values such as self-confidence, sacrifice, satisfaction, discipline, caring, sharing, compassion, integrity, loyalty etc. from the family
- School: Imparts values like tolerance, trust for other children, honesty, discipline, integrity among students, cooperation, discipline, teamwork to enable them to live harmoniously in society.
- Society: Imparts values like empathy, togetherness, harmonious co-existence etc.
- Peers: Peer relationships provide a unique context in which children learn a range of critical social emotional skills, such as empathy, cooperation, and problem-solving strategies. Peers serve as socialization agents that help to mold children's behaviors and beliefs.
These, among a few others, are the most important factors shaping a child’s moral compass. However, in this ICT driven 21st century, many new factors have come into play which are more deciding factors like technology, social media, virtual peer groups etc.
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Role of social media: |
Today interactions in virtual world have taken over the conventional channels, children have a new dimension of being in Virtual world in their lives.
- Positive Impact:
- Enlarged peer group enables children to have greater tolerance and compassion for diverse groups.
- Access to right content on social media like videos of people helping strangers during COVID can help instill values of empathy, respect and a sense of being responsible citizen.
- Instill Effective communication skills
- Help Emotional stability thus increases emotional intelligence.
- Increased Knowledge base etc.
- Negative Impact:
- Uncontrolled and unhindered access of social media may expose children to various vices, and instill in them violence, aggression etc.
- May lure them into an ostentatious virtual world away from reality.
- Vices like greed, arrogance, dishonesty, disdain etc. can breed in a child’s moral compass if not carefully monitored.
Thus, social media can act as a double-edged sword vis-a-vis development of child’s moral compass, a careful oversight and supervision is utmost necessary to ensure that the fruitful side of this double-edged side is reaped for larger benefit of the child and the society.
