Sometimes, a single death stuns an entire nation. Overcoming the grief of a death becomes immensely difficult. The death of Apratim is one such incident. A thirteen-year-old child was murdered by several miscreants, who were also teenagers. These teenagers were supposed to be studying, engaging in sports, and growing up to be good human beings. But why did they turn into killers? Why did they go astray? Finding the answer to this question has now become extremely urgent.

If we analyze the incident of Apratim’s murder, we can easily understand the connection between teen gangs and social media. Apratim had gone to meet his friends carrying his mother’s iPhone. Why did a mother hand over an iPhone to a thirteen-year-old child? Why did she not inquire who his friends were? It is not just Apratim’s mother alone; many of us are inviting this exact ruin upon our children.

A review of crime statistics in Bangladesh reveals an alarming rise in violence against children over the past year. During this period, one-third of all recorded murder victims were children. Furthermore, the majority of crimes committed during this time were carried out by members of teen gangs. Analyzing these two statistics shows that while our children are becoming increasingly unsafe, teen gangs are emerging as the primary source of crime. Death or becoming a killer—these two paths are now what remain for children.

A recent research analyzing the causes of juvenile delinquency revealed that almost all teenage offenders are addicted to social media. It is through social media that they entered the world of crime. The average age of these criminals is under eighteen, yet they are the kingpins of various crimes in their respective localities, including murder, mugging, rape, drug abuse, and kidnapping. These criminal teenagers and youths easily get involved in crimes ranging from extortion in their neighborhoods to various other offenses. They harass school- and college-going girls in the area and even commit major crimes like rape and murder. They also abuse street children in the area, sometimes using them to transport drugs. If anyone complains to their parents about their crimes, they end up facing even more harassment and attacks. They are sheltered and patronized by local influential figures and are used for political gain. To establish local dominance or achieve political power, leaders use these teenagers as pawns on a chessboard.

At an age when they should be busy on the sports field with a bat and ball or engaged in creative activities, a segment of teenagers remains glued to social media. In reality, social media is the progenitor of teen gangs. Dangerous “teen gangs” are forming across the country centered around social platforms. To establish dominance, a section of teenagers is getting involved in fights, drug abuse, show-offs, eve-teasing, and various other crimes. To fund these crimes, they are turning to new illegal activities like drug trading, extortion, mugging, and theft. Murders are also occurring just to “demonstrate power.” Local influential individuals shelter these growing youths at different times for political and personal interests. Not only in the capital city of Dhaka, but these gangs formed across various parts of the country have now become a symbol of terror for the general public.

Our children and teenagers are currently passing through a perilous time. Social media has become the single biggest obstacle to a child’s development. Instead of books, we are handing smart devices to young children. Children are becoming addicted to mobile phones and freely watching whatever they want. Instead of studying and playing sports, their eyes are glued to devices all the time. On one hand, this affects their mental development, while on the other hand, various physical problems are emerging. During adolescence, mobile phones lead them to drug addiction and entice them toward violence. Exposure to obscene content on mobile devices drives teenagers into crimes like eve-teasing. Over time, due to Facebook and TikTok, they end up becoming part of teen gangs. In this way, generation after generation is going astray. The bright future of our children and teenagers is being destroyed because of social media.

We frequently hear news reports like “Teen gang attacks over establishing dominance.” News of teenagers dying in such attacks is also not new. Every attack involves an organized teenage group of at least 30 to 40 members, and in some places, over a hundred teenagers are seen during an attack. But the question is: how are so many teenagers gathering together in an instant? Seeking the answer to this question brought out terrifying information! Misuse of information technology is a major reason behind the rise in juvenile crime. Information technology is being used behind every single attack.

They manage their activities by opening groups on social media platforms like Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp, or Imo. As a result, news reaches other group members in different locations within moments. Consequently, they gather at one place in a short time to carry out attacks, vandalism, and murders.

Social media has turned into an open and unregulated platform. Various behaviors and activities there are harmful to the safety and well-being of children. Aside from the risks of fraud and harassment, children also fall victim to online bullying.

Many parents in our country hand over mobile phones to children to fulfill their demands or to avoid being “bothered.” Sometimes, feeding them becomes difficult, so handing them a phone seems like a comfortable, shortcut solution to these “troubles.” While this may be a temporary solution, it creates an opportunity for severe addiction in children and teenagers, trapping them in a web from which escaping becomes extraordinarily difficult.

While the rest of the world is taking strict measures to protect children, Bangladesh remains completely indifferent to this matter so far. Recent police data indicates that social media is one of the main causes of rising juvenile crime. A recent study by a development organization working on child marriage revealed that child marriage has increased due to social media. Another study showed that incidents of sexual harassment against women, especially teenage girls, are rising because of social media. Instances of entrapping teenage boys through romantic affairs, filming obscene videos, and blackmailing them have increased at an alarming rate. An analysis of media reports shows that there were at least 209 suicide incidents related to social media last year. The reading habit among our children and teenagers has declined, and their interest in sports is diminishing.

Social media is constantly draining the vitality of our children and teenagers. The more we ignore this issue, the more complicated the problem will become. Apratim’s death has demonstrated firsthand how dangerous it is to hand mobile phones to children. To bring teen gangs under control, restrictions must be imposed on the use of social media by children and teenagers. Many countries around the world have already taken such steps.

Therefore, without delaying a single moment, social media must be brought under regulation immediately. We must protect our future generation. Just as we do not want the lives of our children and teenagers to be cut short prematurely, we must also ensure that they do not turn into killers.