In recent times, the media reports and news items on the crime graphs involving affluent, educated, elite show an alarming trend. In the recent kidnapping of a school boy at Chennai by two youngsters are said to be educated in business administration and engineering from UK and a noted university and hail from decent and dignified families. Another episode of the recent past narrated the gruesome murder of his wife by an IT professional of a noted company in Bengaluru shocked the readers. Abduction, demanding ransom, murder, and black mail have become very common among the youths. There were innumerable incidents reported on the cell phone photographs of young girls in compromising postures are used for black mailing them. For major gains using short cuts have become a favorite route of Indian youth population without qualms. 

The tolerance to criticism has become rare. The school children of present generation are precocious no doubt. But they are equally ill tempered and overbearing. A punishment or admonishing from the teacher or even parents can drive the student to self destruction. 

Why this dangerous trend all of a sudden? 

The present generation youngsters are undoubtedly a highly pampered lot. The parents, the schools and the friends contribute a lot to this. Almost majority of the students from colleges enter employment for handsome salaries. If engineering students get a five digit pay on entry, the management graduates are offered in millions per month. Is that justified? 

Sometime back, a newspaper published an article about the qualified criminals in Tihar Jail who are computer savvy and are teaching the inmates its operations. They have indulged in criminal activities because of what the psychiatrists have termed as ‘Entitlement Syndrome’. This means that they expect everything to fall according to their desire and if it goes awry they are ready to go to any extent of committing criminal acts.
There were several news reports on how the BPO and Call Center girls have been involved in swindling money from bank accounts by getting the passwords or fooling the clients with sweet talk. But for all these crimes and misdemeanors, the punishments are rare, long drawn or elusive. 

On one hand, the politicians, intellectuals and economists cry hoarse that Indian economy is still under developed, developing or developed according to the situations. The reality is that none speaks the truth. But the fact is that the education of the present day no way inculcates ‘moral’ or ‘ethics’ in the minds of the youngsters. 

These two terms are unfortunately linked with religious connotations which are nothing but absurdity. Because according to any religious scriptures, the good will suffer and the bad will triumph. But after a lot of struggle, the truth will win over. In certain cases it can also fail making the good a martyr. The new generation of population will not listen to such discourses. They have no patience to wait for the truth to triumph and want immediate results and instant and fast enjoyment of the material comforts of the world. Delinking money from the worldly pleasures is impossible. In a way they are correct also. 

The need of the hour is to educate the youth about the value of life and importance of social and personal ethics. India indubitably lack social commitment or responsibility and no parent or teacher teaches the student about it. The middle class parent drives the children to become rich for comforts. The poor drives their wards to either work or achieve their goals by hook or crook. The success is measured in terms of the wealth one earns. Political leaders have become bad examples through their corruption and unscrupulous acts. Religious leaders are fakes and social activists have turned into publicity mongers. All media glorify violence, sex and pelf in the form of news and entertainment. 

Virtues and values have been constantly changing; that is the order of the world. But there are certain basic virtues like honesty, sincerity and integrity towards any work or relationship is definitely common for any religion or human being. Unless our education system is capable of integrating these qualities in the character of the younger generation, we cannot expect our nation to become a ‘developed nation’ in the ‘real sense’.