In a large democracy, the modern 21st era, where India is trying to establish its mark on mars and moon, Indians are trying hard to keep democracy together. Democracy is not just a political governance structure rather it is also an attitude and sensibility. Now in the social media-dominated times, and politically polarised society, India is caught in a communication crisis. One does not know the difference between freedom of speech and verbal abuse. It is polarised chaos that on one hand, people are scared to express their opinions in person, on the other hand, on virtual platforms people are ready to troll and abuse!
The Disagreement and Disrespect Factor
In India, there is inculcated and deep-rooted culture where children are not supposed to oppose the opinions of elders, it’s often seen as great offence and disrespect. It is often considered to be mannerless to question or disagree with elders. It is a highly problematic attitude that makes society a place where dissent, an offence. Ironically, dissent is in-fact a strong tenet of democracy. Such an attitude often binds a society with fear rather than freedom. It has almost become that people do not know how to disagree politely. The majority of the media news channels are encouraging such an attitude where a debate often turns ugly for TRPs, reinforcing that disagreement should lead to personal attack or hatred. Such nature is creating a vicious environment in a society where people who disagree with each other do not know how to communicate with civility, causing damage to the democracy framework that India has carefully built over years. There should be a change in society 's norms where children are encouraged to question and disagree, but with respect. Children need to engage in debates, need to be taught how to disagree with civility.
The Anonymous Avatar
Many people now seek social media to abuse other people who have different opinions. It’s unfortunate that we are not taught to embrace multiple points of view and we are not taught disagreeing with someone need not necessarily have to result in hating that person. The virtual world is increasingly becoming a huge integral part of society. The internet or social media not only gave wings to fly but also gave many people a platform to troll and abuse. Anonymity helps people to not fear the consequences of shame for abusing or making fun of someone. Children now are widely exposed to technology. To resolve this, Rather than focusing just on restricting the platform, which could complicate things furthermore, it is important to combine social media etiquette in the studies and education. Children or even adults need to be taught the differences among freedom of speech, trolling, constructive criticism, and personal attack.
Heaving to learn to disagree with civility, learning to constructively criticise are not just to protect democracy but also for the true advancement of the society that is not just in technology but to
build a healthy society that can handle multiple diverse opinions without breaking into violence.
Deepthi N
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