Modern Society – Degeneration of values.

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– By Hilda D’Silva, Kallianpur.

There was a time when I was young, to live was a joy filled with trust, love and laughter in small communities, towns and cities. Joint families with elders supervising and directing youngsters and children with unique stories filled with morals, ignited the imagination of the young. They were motivated with the desire to live lives dedicated and useful. Amidst extreme poverty, people of different religions lived in harmony enjoying each other’s company and celebrating festivals. “Live and let live” was the order of the day. Dr Abdul Kalam in his childhood had very close friends – Ramananda Shastry who became high priest of Rameshwaram temple, Aravinda, a transport businessman and Shiva prakashan, a catering contractor for Southern Railways. Till his last days, Dr Kalam talked about these friends, very close to his heart. No malice, no communal feeling, no prejudices, just pure affection and friendship.

Today we are a progressive society led by mass communication, social media network, technology and Artificial Intelligence. Man has conquered all physical scientific forces on earth and space. Ample scope for inventions and innovations. All said and done, materialism has replaced humanism, wealth has established mastery over feelings, emotions and core values. Recent incidents against humanity make me contemplate on the future of our society, our youth and children. Where are we heading to….. with all the progress and flow of money? Degeneration of values among youth is of great concern because true happiness will be very difficult to find in future families, society and people.

Recent murders of 21 year old Komal, 19 year old Vijayalaxmi and 18 year old Mehek Jain are grim reminders of over possessive partners. While Komal was strangled and body was dumped in the Chawla canal on March 12^th, Vijayalaxmi was stabbed to death by her 20 year old boy friend in Delhi on April 7^th and her friend in Delhi on April 7^th and Jain was stabbed and set fire in South Delhi on June 1^st. In each of the cases, the murders were the outcome of psychological obsession, jealousy, control and deep rooted fear of losing partners. Again, an average of 86 rape cases are reported daily in India. The National Commission for women received 7698 complaints so far in 2025 of Domestic Violence, assault and criminal intimidation. The tragic cases of sexual assault of a second year student on the campus of Anna University, the brutal rape of trainee Doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital and so many other incidents make the citizens of this country ashamed and devastated. The moral fabric of the country is torn into pieces.

Adding fuel to fire ever increasing suicides of children and teenagers for really silly reasons, self-destruction by young parents over petty quarrels, families deciding on ending their lives in despair over financial matters have to prick the conscience of all of us, the so called educated people. Have we ever given a thought or analysed about why this degeneration of values and superficial living happens? It is time to reflect and act.

The Devi of the family, the girl child showered with love, educated and employed today, is transformed into a cruel murderess. Aren’t we shocked by the honeymoon act of killing the husband by Sonam Raghuvanshi in Meghalaya? Days after the arrest of Sonam, a 29 year old Radhika Lokhande murders her 50 year old husband Anil within three weeks of marriage. Is there any end visible to these shocking killings? Why, we elders, our youth and even children, have lost the sense of right and wrong?

So many reasons and changes for the worse contribute to the moral decline in our society, the crumbling down of the values and principles governing lives to people.

• Weakened social fabric– Terrorism, vested interests, excessive focus on worldly pursuits, corruption, social injustice.
• Materialistic culture – Mass media glorifies unethical behavior and portrays unethical behavior and portrays violence and immorality as entertainment.
• Poor parenting – Lack of discipline, absence of communication, parents avoiding responsibility, too much freedom to children are a cause. Nuclear families resulting in lack of strong role models and selfishness.
• Changing social norms – Rapidly changing social norms and cultural shifts lead to questioning of traditional moral values.
• Shift in education system – Our education system has failed to impart moral and ethical values. It is only distinctions, marks and ranks to accumulate wealth in the future by right or wrongful means.
• Lifestyle of people – The life style of people is changed significantly. Youth believe in showing off, self exhibition and high status leading to drinking, smoking, drug menace.

We elders, parents and teachers have to wake up to reality and try to stop this trend of degeneration of values. Motivate our youth and children to live value-filled lives.

• Family and Elders – Family is the base to shape personalities. Parents, grandparents, elders should, by their example, inculcate sound values in children, which sadly is absent.
• Monitoring children’s activities – Parents, though a difficult task, should monitor children and youth when they spend time with electronic gadgets and social media.
• Control on social media – Can we aspire for a legislation to regulate social media and control over minors using social media? It will be a big step in the right direction.
• Youth and Role models – Instead of fearing our youth, let us encourage our elders to be role models, not fearful but custodian of values. Can we, elders cultivate this mindset? It’s time for us to assume responsibility.

Let me conclude with the prophetic words of Robert Frost, reminding us about our responsibility to our youth and children.

“The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep

And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep”