Today, the people of very backward areas where there are no roads are also connected with satellite and watching the world activities on their TV screens. Television has provided the best platform to our youngsters for developing themselves. Now a talented but poor SC or ST boy can see the shooting tact of Abhinav Bindra in Olympic or boxing of Vijender and can become a good boxer or good shooter. Media has brought out the talents of their shells in rural areas of the country. People became more interested in other sections of society and more willing to talk and take part in social activities. Millions of people are practicing Yoga through media today and getting good health. Millions of youngsters doing Mass media course and earning their bread through media. How can we say that media is polluting the young brains. We are the ideal of our youngsters. It only depends on us that in which way we are taking the facilities. If we are a good father, good mother, good teacher and good citizen, there is no reason that our young generation becomes a bad production. Thanks media, you have provided a lot of opportunities to our children.

Pinky Deswal: Media, the founder of leaders has really changed and made our society valueless mobocrats place. Media is only visible audible device which inspires society, it can be in negative or positive -in any way.

It is the stories which are explaining that how a noble cause oriented charity function is given the meaning of a baseless non-human function or vice versa.

This is the other side of the coin, as media is awakening our sleeping aam janta but in what sense for the use of greedy power hunger vote eaters political leaders, for nudeness of bollywood, for social crimes against women and a never ending form of innhuman tasks.

Media should be promoter of humanity, womanity...

Suparna Gupta: Media consists of Newspapers, Films, Television etc. Every invention of science has good and bad effects on young brains. But nowadays Television is a very powerful media for mass communication. It can enlighten our uneducated masses and widen their mental thinking. It also helps them to overcome the narrowing influence of regionalism, racism and promote communal harmony and national integration.

It telecasts important films which provide education on cultural , social and economic aspects. But, on the other hand it is also polluting the brain of young people.

In most of the serials such as "Banoo Mai Teri Dulhan", "Sat Phere "," Waaris "Â and such other serials making the young generations arrogant and showing disrespect to elders, indulge in cheap love affairs and saying "I love you" and "I love you too" and then easily going for divorce. It also shows that there is someone who only indulges in creating differences between husband and wife, parents and children. The youth don't see the good side of the serials, they only borrow the bad things.

Somtimes it telecasts such films which depict the planning of robbery, methods of kidnapping which do great harm to the young generation. In every channel there is a programme in which actors and children are indulging in dangerous stunts like lying on sword or knife, jumping from multi stroyed buildings etc which involves the risk of life. But, the youth are curious and take it as an adventure and try to do the same thing without any previous thought and sometimes it costs their lives.

Navneet Sinha: Media is one of the key factors for the development of the modern nation. There are lots of prints and visual media in existence and more and more are joining the group. We are so used to media these days that we cannot imagine ourselves without being influenced by the media. It is quite natural that younger generation is more and more inclined towards modernized system of media. To some extent we can say that our younger generation is deviating towards wrong path by the influence of media.

There are lots of print media and TV channels that are focussing and creating hype on irrelevant issues which imparts negative impacts on the younger brains. TV channels containing imaginative stories and scenes of violence and indecency leave a negative imapct on the younger brains because they are attracted towards these unsocial practices and they are not able to differentiate between wrong and right. But it does not mean that media as a whole is wrong, sometime these same stories could generate a sense of responsibility and educate the younger generation from the ill-effects of the society.

What I feel is that just like a coin has two sides, media too has positive and negative impacts. What we have to see is that how we actually handle media. It is for the parents and the younger generation themselves to analyse what is wrong and good for the younger brains and accordingly follow it. Media is the strong force in the current scenario and we cannot completely bypass media from the younger generation because there are lots of informative ideas which are available today just because of media.

RK Gupta: Newspapers and magazines have been most powerful and influential media for the last two centuries. Newspapers have played a very crucial role in the freedom movement, in protecting democracy and served the suffering common people a lot.

In the present day world, the TVs with 500 channels have completely influenced everybody. From children of 5 years of age to elders of 80 years get addicted and watch TV programmes four hours together.

There is no harm in watching any channel with good healthy programmes. But due to keen competition amongst the different TV sponsors, the quality of the programmes is not being maintained. Some programmes cannot be watched along with family members. Cruelty, violence, smoking, drinking wine and other intoxicants are shown exorbitantly which definitely pollute the young brains beyond doubt.

Subodh Shrivastava: The press, the radio, the TV are the media. These play important role in people's lives. Different types of news enable people to get jobs, pursue marriage, apply for different study courses, know about social activities going on around them etc. But, at the same time these have polluted young brains.

Starting from the press, the press has polluted young brains by publishing semi-nude photographs covering news of fashion shows, miss beauty contests, jewellery models, tennis players (ladies), movies and news abroad. They allow open advertisements regarding sex-related topics and print several news of molestation, rape etc which are eye-catching for the young and they go for these news and photographs which provoke them.

The TV is now the strongest media for anything to reach to millions of people. In India , it first started late night movies for adults. These were secretly watched by youngsters also. Then some channels added by telecasting foreign movies which comprised of naked and semi-naked scenes. Many music channels telecast songs which involve vulgar actions and could not be watched with family. Many comedy programmes in the name of comedy present dual meaning jokes or cheap actions by the so-called comedians. Several advertisements comprise of women in meager clothes.

All this has been strengthened by the computer network which provide pornographic sites during net surfing.

The radio too has enhanced pollution of young minds by broadcasting songs which have been picturised with vulgarity.

Thieves and dacoits are presented as heroes by the print media and TV. A gold chain snatched by bikers could be a news but further story is not given.

SN Patra: Some people who are orthodox or reticent may hold the view that the print media and the electronic media have spoilt young minds. They may also feel that text books, too, have spoilt young minds. Kautilya, Vatsayana, Plato, Aristotle, Marx and such luminaries and their teachings were not liked by the so-called elite of that period.

But, time has proved that our alround prosperity is due to these thinkers.

It is a known fact that from 1975 there has been `knowledge explosion' in the world. The advent of internet, computers, TV etc are flooding people with technical know-how and knowledge in every sphere.

I would, rather, contribute to the idea that the media has been doing yeoman's service. Every good thing has its demerits too. If one avoids the bad he will benefit immensely from the media. One learns from mistakes. If you read and view the blunders committed and consequent misery caused, one can learn from the mistakes depicted in the media. Therefore, pick the good up discerning the bad. Most young people are doing it. The present is glorious and the future shall usher in progress par excellence.

Let us be optimistic and forward-looking for, `motivation' and common mass-thinking yields good results.

Sushmita Shrivastava: Yes, media, particularly the electronic media, is polluting the young brains. Just sixty years ago the invention of the television was viewed as a technological curiosity with black and white ghost-like figures on a screen so small hardly anyone could see them. Today that curiosity has become a constant companion to many, mainly youngsters. From reporting the news and persuading us to buy certain products, to providing programmes that depict violence, electronic media has all but replaced written material. Unfortunately, it is these violent programmes that are endangering our society, especially youngsters. We are bombarded continually with images of violence, brutality, and sexual immortality on TV and movies. Violent images on TV, as well as in the movies, have inspired youngsters to take to crime. Media violence is especially damaging to young children, because they cannot tell the difference between real life and fantasy. Violent images on television and in movies may seem real to these children and sometimes viewing these images can even traumatize them. Despite the negative effects media violence has been known to generate, no drastic changes have been made to deal with this problem that seems to be getting worse. Unfortunately, as long as there is an extremely high public demand for violent shows and movies, the media is going to continue on the same path.

RJ Khurana: Yes, in a manner of saying. Wittingly or unwittingly the media has polluted the young minds. In a democratic polity media plays a very important role of informing and educating the people and mobilizing the public opinion for good causes and correcting deviations. This is why the media is called the Fourth Estate after the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary, the other three pillars of the democratic polity. However, sometimes over zealous media men have in the blind pursuit of hiking their TRPs, transgressed the norms, sensationalized simple events leading to riots and disharmony. Some newspapers, TV channels and tabloids have gone overboard in presenting the sequence of events adding their own mirch masala showing little concern for ill effects of publishing, presenting and sensationalizing the news. A good number of youth on being caught have disclosed that they learnt their first lessons in crime from the baddies in the serials/movies. A responsible media is a boon and an irresponsible one a curse.

Syed Zia ul Hasan Naqvi: On the basis of law of insertion and imitation majority of people surmise that media is responsible for the nefarious activities of youths because it has polluted the young brains.

According to them youngsters are prone to imitate things what they see, read or hear through media. Nowadays most of the TV serials are showing such stories which are full of violence, fraud or nudity.

Newspapers are also replete with the daily crime reports and the same condition is of radio. Media is a mirror of society. Whatever is happening in the society that is coming through media before us. As a matter of fact media is a source of information and enlightenment. But, corruption and evils have increased in our society to such an extent that its influence is on our media also.

In our society we least bother for our old values that is why we are gradually spoiling our youngsters and blaming others. While we are first of all responsible for spoiling young generation.

RK Kutty: Media certainly plays a major role in our times. As far as the question is concerned, surely the impact of media on young brains is undeniable. The reason thereof is pretty clear. Media touches only the wrong things more prominently than things that can mould, educate and enthuse our young brains. But then, such brainy youngsters are only a minority while a majority want to see the vulgar sides and the TRP conscious Medias feed the needs of such majority sections in which they have their own kitty get filled up.

Look at the mind-boggling increase in the number of Media. There was a time viewers depended mostly on the National channel Delhi Doordashan. But nowadays how many viewers are interested in it. On the other hand, look at some of the sensational channels like India TV or Aaj Tak that telecast some or the other thrilling events, with their own mirch-masala. The latest scientists big-bang experiment at Geneva and its other related news is a case. It just added more anxiety to the already anxiety filled people and anything that become unbearable breaks down. A 17 year old girl was reported died, watching the doomsday predictions.

If it was not the media impact, then what else it could be? These 24x7 channels are news starved and they are always after sensationalism. A small incident in some or the other corner of the world become big news and from media to media it spread like wild-fire. By the time the real truth comes out, it is already over, the damage is done and by then another sensational one over-takes it and people's attention is diverted to that. In a way, it is a wild goose chase all together.

Visal A Khan: Media Literacy is an approach of this century for education. It provides a framework to access, analyse, evaluate and create messages in a variety of forms - from print to video to the Internet. Media literacy builds an understanding of the role of media in society as well as essential skills of inquiry and self-expression necessary for citizens of the country Media is a great privilege to learn shortly, but sometimes media storms brain of young ones. The example is the suicide of a 14 years girl in Indore, the loss of life of pretty girl falls to mislead her when media announced the world's greatest experiment of Large Hadron Collider (LHC) "Pirlay" meaning eating the Universe, on 10th. Sept. before the complete news by the media announced as follows.

"Report concludes the LHC won't eat the universe You can sleep easy in the knowledge that the world's most powerful particle smasher, the Large Hadron Collider, will not gobble us all up in the middle of the night." So says a new safety assessment released by CERN." The media collects matter of news in short, and mix salt and pepper to spice it to surprise young ones which evaluate it high value in red lines, pollute the young brain.

GS Jayshree: I do not subscribe to the view that the media has polluted the minds of the youth. Measuring the revolutionary changes the media, specially the electronic one has brought in the people, all its ill effects gets dwarfed.

The media has thrown open the doors and widely broadened the horizon of knowledge for the youth. The modern youth is no longer a "frog in the well", but is a more informed and literally "updated" person in every sphere. The role of the electronic media need not be emphasized. Internet is a tool with which we can explore into the world of the "unknown". The happenings around the globe be it a political one, be it a disaster {natural or man-made} with all details, reviews etc are brought straight into our living rooms within minutes. We get to know "our India", our earth" better. We learn about the culture, traditions, food habits of people of different parts of our country, of world .

The negative side of the coin is no doubt there. The serials based on the theme of "wealth, revenge, bitter family relations etc transmit the wrong message and the vulnerable youth gets victimised. The increase in the crime graph can be attributed if not fully but then to some extent to the "media". The provocative and irresponsible portrayal of sensitive issues related to religion, caste etc also put an effect on the minds of the youth and he breeds contempt for the other community. The over-importance given to money above every other thing makes the youth a self-centred one.

Omprakash Sharma: There are many sections of media in this age of science and technology. A section of the media specifically envisioned and designed to reach a very large audience such as the population of a nation state is called Mass media. Newspapers, Magazines, Radio, Television and Internet are main sections of this. Media is an important source of information and it directly affects the thought process of public. Among all of the sections of media, the television and Internet are more popular and have more power to influence the young brains. Nowadays, Television is mostly watched in the world, specially in India and there are several news and entertainment channels which are broadcasting thousands of programmers for young generation.

Most of the news and information are manipulated and being presented in such a way that the viewers become biased from the real facts to the vision of the concerned TV Center owners. This is very harmful for the young generation not only knowing and trusting the biased news but also with some mistaken ideas in their sense. Serials are the most harmful things for our young generation which are made in such a way that each episode ends up with high pick suspense to be shown in next episode. This suspense keeps the heads of the youngsters busy in thinking "What will happen next?" So they leave all their works and studies to sit down in front of the TV during that time and this sequence goes on. Whenever we on our T.V. we can see a new sensation each time. All the news channels show Astrologists, Numerologists and Tantriks in their studios and they disturb our sensitive young brains.

Most of the primetime shows are becoming more and more passive on what not to show. Nudity, sexual immorality, drinking and conspiracy among family members are being taught on TV channels. Obscene dialogues and nudity are being served in reality shows and laughing programmes. This is very shameful to us that the eminent personalities related to politics, cinema and literature are taking part in such TV Programmes which are completely ruining the positive thought process of our young brains and diverting their energy from positive direction to negative.

Although we can't change the culture of media of the whole world but we can make a good communication with our young children and make them understand the whole thing.

Jaskaran Singh Dhami: Media, indisputably, has become very powerful and all-pervasive. It reminds me of GK Chesterton's remarks "It's not the world that's got so much worse but the news coverage that's got so much better." On one hand, media has succeeded in serving as a watchdog (a ferocious one, of course) and has brought much awareness to the people and pressurized the people and organization on the helm of affairs to play it straight by keeping them on tenterhooks. But on the other hand, media, instead of presenting the facts before people, has started passing its judgment and sometimes distorting the facts to give them a spicy tinge. Once a newspaper or TV touches a story, the facts are lost forever, even to the protagonists. (Remember media's role in Arushi murder case). People form their opinion about various issues based on what media feeds them and the way it feeds them.

TV news channels, for example, to score a point over their rival channels, use all tricks of the trade. They present the crime stories in such a way that it sounds like glorification. Sexual adventurism of Hollywood or Bollywood stars and other celebrities is blown out of proportions and given piquant twists which certainly vitiates young impressionable minds. There have been many rapes, murders and kidnapping cases where accused confessed that they had borrowed the ideas from TV or films. Newspapers are not much behind the TV channels in this race. Some very reputed dailies carry news items like 'Lindsay Lohan admits to lesbian affair with Ronson', 'Gemma Atkinson turns down 8 million pounds to show off her boobs'. I've eschewed the horrendous ones (news, not what Gemma exhibits). Such type of sexiting news which are given purely for entertainment sake, surely pollute young brains. Some newspapers have started polluting, nay, glamorizing even their sports pages by adorning these with semi (semi?) nude photographs which hardly leave anything to the imagination, on this pretext or that.

Moreover, media (especially news channels) stuffs the information into the minds of people in such a way that no scope is left for analysis of facts on the part of viewers or readers. These days we do not 'form' the opinions but 'borrow' them which is a dangerous development, especially for the youngsters. The creativity of our kids which needs to be kindled is being stifled by the overdose of trash information.

Media should follow a code of conduct. Freedom of press or media does not mean that it gets freed from the norms.

Rajesh Mavi: Yes and also no, up to some extent. Media has polluted the young brains because the youngsters of present generation are going away from the values of the society where we live. The family ethics have lost meaning for the teenagers of today. Some still hold on to it just because of fear and other compulsions of the family or elders at home. On the other hand, it has not because there is still goodness prevalent in the world in spite of modern media developments. Media has become the voice for the voiceless in the society and fights for the cause of the people at large.

Media gives both good and bad information in the form of news, cartoons, stories. The information channeled through media some or the other way affects the minds of people and very especially that of the youngsters. They either become subjects to the catastrophic effects of its influences or succumb to the aftermaths of certain addictions, habits. Media also creates inspirational influences on the young minds giving them plenty of things to learn for life but when students or viewers draw only negative stuffs through the programmes then it becomes harmful for the society.

It is well said, "That beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder." Everything depends on the receptive and perceptive power of the viewers and audiences to whom the media reaches with information. They should carefully mark the needs of the young minds, which nowadays reads and views anything or everything that is available to their minds along with their elders.

Therefore, I think that media alone is not responsible for what is happening in the societies and world where we dwell.

Satish Kumar Singh: In present circumstances media has forgotten its accountable position whether that is print media or electronic media. Alteration is the part of usual organism. As per time, transformation comes in every segment. Media is also not secluded from this notion.

Print media is presently struggling for its existence. Its obsolescence is transparent. At the same time, electronic media is proving its significance on account of its penetration level among masses and its real time output. Glamour is its another imperative characteristic.

Well, today media is not playing its function prominently. Every kind of gobbledygook is putting before readers and viewers. Media has all to turn negative into positive. Yellow journalism is in full swing principally in village, Tehsil and subdivision level.

Commercial approach of media is very pertinent aspect nowadays. Obscene and perplexing advertisements are now part and parcel of every newspaper. Every newspaper is flooded with Aid of Ling Vardhak Yantra, Friendship with girl friends; get higher educational degree in easy way, Karamati oil for bald men, Shartiya ilaz for Shigrah patan, Swapan dosh, and Babashir etc. Similarly electronic media is bewildering young brains too. India news, Aaj Tak, Zee News, India TV, Samay TV etc are telecasting those programmes which augment superstition among young brains. Kal Kapal Mahakal, Adbhut ghatna, Mano ya na mano, Shh.......Koi Hai etc are some of essential examples of gibberish programmes and these examples are only exemplary instead of exhaustive. Nowadays other nonsense programmes like comedy ka circus, Hansoge to phansoge, Lafter challenge etc are being telecast by different news channels. One of so called artists Shakeel and other Pakistani artists always use double standard jokes which may be objectionable for any family.

In this connection, live telecast of celebrity's personnel life is also not up to the mark. Coverage of fashion shows, ballet of cheers up girls, other offensive dance programme and some other improper aids are also polluting the mind of young brains.

In fact young brains are very sensitive and scrawny and come under pressure and learn wrong lessons.

AB Mehta: Media includes Newspaper, Radio, TV, Internet and now even mobile since news shorts are being sent by SMS. But in all these advertisement is the main source of revenue. The advertisement revenues increase if more people subscribe. Hence the first priority of ALL these is to prominently give that which attracts more number of people. While the older persons may spend more time in reading or watching TV channels, they usually concentrate on just news and views. The Adults have less time for most of these. The housewives spend major time in watching soaps like 'kyonki...', 'kahani...' and other ks or their equivalents! The children are hooked to cartoons.

That leaves the young or teenagers. Their preference is pop music, dance competitions, reality shows, non-serious movies and sports. In a newspaper they start with the sports page and jump to 'Rangmahals' showing scantily clad heroines and having gossip stories like who is dating whom, who is living with whom, who is likely to divorce whom, who had a fight with whom in a night party and so on. In radio if they tune at all, it is pop music and loud FM comments between the songs. In TV it is the 'exercise' dances of movie stars, cheap laughs with many indirect indecent comments, hot movies, cricket-specially cheerleaders, MTV, Fashion TV and so on. On internet it is the video like You tube and worse. Even on mobile it is the MMS usually indecent. With this canvass it is easy to influence their impressionable minds. Many youngsters have learnt criminal ideas from these inputs. All that we older people learnt as our 'sanskars' are now out of date. The directors and Editors who concentrate on serious topics will have hardly any young viewers or readers. They include the vitiating material to increase their TRP or readership. If you ask them why, their answer is my viewers or readers demand these how can I refuse if I want to remain in business!