HEALTH IN AN ABERRANT SOCIETY

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HEALTH will be a very big issue in the Philippines five to ten years from now without our knowing it. And with the non-passage of the Freedom of Information Bill, we shall face a country of young people reaching their middle years and leading this country in different sectors of society. Pity the senior citizens who will bear the brunt of this irony. Here are the health problems that would occur should the current situation does not change

1. Blindness or blurry vision -- because of exposure to radiation from the computer screens, the vision of the youth would grow dimmer and they would have need for glasses;

2. Deafness or being Hard of Hearing  -- the youth are so attuned to music so much so that they go around with headsets of their celfones ringing or playing music in their ears. We know that the technology of celfones is not that good in terms of protecting the human body. So we should expect to be speaking more loudly or shouting when interacting with them;

3. Attention deficitness or Lack of focus -- because of their immersion in the computer games, they would begin to lose concentration on their studies, on their work, and on activities requiring focus. 

4. Desensitization -- constant immersion in technologies would make them more desensitized, "manhid" because they only interact with the people on screen and not in realia. This desensitization could lead to a breakdown of relationships within the family and society in general.  I heard a sociologist talk about a family with all the members gathered together by a table and each having a celfone, a laptop and what-have-you gadget. She said that her colleagues should look at this as a new phenomenon in society. After her talk, I approached her and told her -- "the cyberfamily is an aberration in society." She looked at me, very surprised that I should have that point of view. I have seen that at malls and in the families that I have gone with. It is a total breakdown of person-to-person relationship.

5.  Anemia -- the rampant visits to junk food restaurants which offer chicken, beef and pork with nary a vegetable leaf or fruit could result in the youth's being anemic, if not candidates for high blood pressure or cancer as meat is greatly liked by the negative cells.

The government must see the problems from a larger vantage point as we have entered an age where technologies coming from abroad are flooding our country, advertising through different forms is making inroads in our external and internal lives  displaying unhealthy products, unhealthy lifestyles, and our people are so enamoured with gadgets  that they do not foresee the eventual havoc they would create in their lives.

"Tell me what you are holding in your hands and I will tell you what you are."


The Scream (Norwegian: Skrik) is the popular name given to each of four versions of a composition, created as both paintings and pastels, by the Expressionist  ...

‎Edvard Munch