Stop Technology to Stop Me!

Banning the use of a technology is not the ultimate “solution” to the formidable problems that are haunting us today, but perhaps a “problem” in itself. Someone would smirk at us and yell out loud: “Rules are made to be broken”.

Mr. BadBoyGood chuckles and whispers aloud “Am the bad one, you can try stopping me, but I an’t no looser, I’ll think of other ways to get more mischievous”. He retorts “You crazy fellows you’ll Stop technology to Stop me, no good”. And he laughs again and disappears in the buzzing crowd. He’s just one amongst them; he’s just one amongst you.

Man is the creator of his own destiny. You certainly have the will and the power to stop a man from doing something; but his mind. And something which is more potent than the strongest armies of this world is an “Idea”, and that may be good or bad. We have been continually inventing, discovering and creating things, that has led us this far. But, in the process what has failed us is that we have not been able to “control” ourselves to make right use of these things. We invented Television and called it the “Idiot Box”. We created the Internet and called it a threat to the society. And latest on the list, for universal criticism is the powerful Mobile or Smart phones. The negative effects of these phones have created a lot of hue and cry. Thanks to the ever increasing misuse of these tiny mobile phones institutions, states, or even countries at large have been banning its use in select places. Good news is that these select places would just include: Hospitals, Airports, Filling stations, Religious places, Sports meet, Security Establishments (like defense outfits, important government offices, parliaments, nuclear plants, dams, hydro-electric power stations, etc.), Work-places, Cinema halls, Change-rooms, Warehouses, Trains, Voting booths, Banks, Schools, while driving, …..well am exhausted now. Would have been better, if I had mentioned anyplace expect home.

You may argue that it’s justifiable to “restrict” (rather than banning) its use at some of the aforementioned places. Yes of course, but does banning give you ANY guarantee that the malicious use of this mobile technology together with the digital multimedia technology be put to check. We have locks, we have sound security systems still we hear about robbery. We have advanced surveillance systems, we have well-guarded territories yet we hear about infiltration. We have the best of Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS), Firewalls, yet we fail to prevent unsolicited intrusion. The same goes for anti-virus systems as well.

This article has been inspired from the recent ban on the use of mobile phones in the schools of my State (and it applies to the teachers as well). And quite surprisingly, the decision has followed after an MMS sex scandal that shocked the nation, which happened in a State other than mine. Prior to my writing this article I performed a goggle (which is synonymous to “search” these days) and was astounded to find numerous cases of mobile phone banning across states, across countries. I seldom recall what my Strategic Management Professor would say”If you give a child the car to drive, he is bound to cause an accident. Who is at fault the Car or the Child?” And as Mr. BadBoyGood mentioned you cannot “stop technology to stop me”. Banning can never be a solution; but it’s a problem in itself. Technology is all-powerful; you just cannot stop it to stop yourself.

Is it wise to think that Mr.BadBoyGood will be less mischievous once he is outside the school premises? Just think about it.

Disclaimer

This article in no way reflects the views, opinions, thoughts or beliefs of any person, institution or organization related to the author and is the personal expression of the author.