On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, interacting at the “Pariksha Pe Charcha” with nearly 2,000 students from high school to college managed to break the audience into laughter after a mother asked him a question regarding online gaming.
During the interaction, a concerned mother complained to the Prime Minister that her son was avoiding studies and addicted to online games. To her question, PM Modi replied: “PUBG-wala hai kya? (is he a PUBG gamer?)” which resulted in a loud burst of laughter from the audience present.
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However, the Prime Minister on a serious note said the issue is both a problem and a solution while adding that it was not good to dissuade children from technology. “If we want our kids to turn away from technology, then they will fall behind,” said PM Modi.
“Explore ways in which you encourage your children towards accepting and understanding technology. But remember, technology should be used to expand our horizons, not to let it shrink us in our life. It should not be allowed to narrow us down, as that would be very harmful to us,” advised PM Modi.
“Like everything else, technology too comes with its positives and negatives. As parents, we must guide our children to get the most from technology. Encourage their inquisitiveness on learning about various apps, like how to build something, or cook something,” said Prime Minister while interacting with students at Talkatora stadium in New Delhi.
PM Modi said that technology should lead to the expansion of the mind and as a means to innovate and urged the parents to try and make efforts so that children would hopefully move from “PlayStation to the playground”.
It is rather interesting to know that Prime Minister Modi despite his hectic work schedule managed to be aware of such micro issues like online gaming PUBG, which has taken the Internet by storm. PUBG, which is an online multiplayer game has become a huge online trend among the millennials rising concerns among parents for its addictive nature.
Reportedly, PUBG Mobile has been banned in schools recently in the state of Gujarat. The game was launched in December 2017 and has since acquired a massive fan base in India and worldwide.