Sunday Times 2
Facebook parties and their impact on society and workplaces
A few days ago, yet another Facebook party was ‘raided’ in the wee hours by the Wennappuwa Police on a tip-off. They arrested 39 people between the ages of 18 and 39. They had come there from different parts of the country following an open invitation for a fictitious birthday party from an unknown Facebook friend. When the Police swooped, most of the revellers were slumbering in all corners.
Regularly we hear of police raids on Facebook parties, attended by ‘unfamiliar friends’ who just want to ‘drown’ themselves in illicit drugs and ‘howling music’, with a view to liberating themselves, even momentarily, from anxiety. Participants realise the consequences only after they are arrested and remanded.
According to media reports, among those arrested following raids on Facebook parties in Matara and Anuradhapura were students, an actress and young couples. However, statistics indicate that most of the participants were young working people.
These ‘parties’ are organised with scant regard to legal consequences and their adverse impact on the participants and society. They are organised via Facebook or other social media platforms, mostly by persons who want to sell drugs and make profits. Tickets are reportedly sold at Rs 700 per head and Rs 1000 for a couple. Participants are persuaded to buy hard and soft drugs. Once taken, they will have the urge to go for more shots. Soon they will become addicts and will not be in a position to realise the harm the narcotic substance causes to their health and the health of society.
Social stigma
Incapable of meeting the challenges of the modern world and economic hardships, Facebook party goers resort to shortcuts to find at least some ‘momentary relief’.
Finding refuge in stimulants is a consequence of an ‘unsteady mind’. In the days gone by, cigarette smoking or consuming liquor had been promoted as a means to ease off anxiety, but today the rise in the use of hard drugs depicts the level of ‘nervousness’ an individual experiences, despite the adverse effects on one’s overall health and society. Therefore, there is a social responsibility on society, especially lawmakers, to look beyond the arrests and address the issue with the seriousness it deserves. The Police and the local councils should keep a ‘watch’ on ‘Facebook party venues’ in their localities.
Parental failures
Parents, embarrassed by their children being taken to police station and courts, blame the Police. But others blame the parents for their failure to guide their children correctly.
The victims too realise only subsequently that their social standing had been damaged. They are embarrassed to face their parents, relatives, visit village or work place. The consequence of their act affects their liberal way of life while a lifelong social stigma hangs on. Parents have a prime responsibility and a social obligation to ensure that the children under their care are able to face comfortably society’s complications in their adulthood. More so, in view of the current challenges and hardships. As such, the parents should take time from their busy schedules to talk to their children and that too in their ‘own language’ in the most caring manner, before distancing sets-in.
Work-place, consequences
and obligations
With many young working people becoming victims of drug party organisers, work-places too have obligations to look after their employees before they harm the company’s reputation and affect productivity. Companies could say, ‘what can we do if they do what they want outside’. But do they not realise that these employees set adverse examples to co-workers who too could follow suit?
Thus it is imperative to educate employees on the need to conduct themselves with utmost decorum outside the work place. It will help maintain a good working atmosphere and protect the company’s reputation.
(The writer is a former Senior Superintendent of Police, Deputy Director of the National Intelligence Bureau, and Acting Commissioner General of the Department of Youth Rehabilitation and the Vice President of the Asia Crime Prevention Foundation.)