Today, life's a hashtag. We share everything, whether it's having a haircut or cleaning the fridge or having fun with friends, through selfies. Privacy, what's that?
Class XI student of Dayanand Public School, Jamshedpur, Soumya Sinha raised the point while speaking for the motion: "The selfie craze has killed our privacy in life" during the prelims of Frank Anthony Memorial All-India Inter-school Debate, organised by ADLS Sunshine School, Sakchi, at Michael John Auditorium in Bistupur on Friday.
The selfie was the topic for senior students - Classes XI and XII - of the debate at one of its venues.
"Whether we are cooking, alone at home or meeting friends, everything is posted with a hashtag. We overexpose ourselves to make ourselves vulnerable to cyber crimes," argued Soumya.
But, Atul Ankit, a Class XI student of Dayanand Public School, disagreed. "Selfie is a new-age trend, a result of advanced technology, and it depends how you use it. There are settings where we can choose our audience and restrict viewing," said Ankit.
The same debate, for its junior students - Classes IX and X, Category Two - saw the another topic on "I have the power of people with me".
Both the categories were hosted simultaneously by Motilal Nehru Public, Gulmohur High, ADLS Sunshine and JH Tarapore schools on Friday.
Over 80 students of 25 ICSE schools across the state participated in the two categories.
The senior one was hosted by ADLS Sunshine and JH Tarapore, and the junior one by Motilal Nehru Public and Gulmohur High.
Conducted by Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations every year, the Frank Anthony Memorial All-India Inter-school Debate is widely considered the most prestigious debate in India, named after prominent Anglo-Indian leader and MP Frank Anthony.
Some 1,600 schools across the country take part in the preliminary rounds.
The topics were given on the spot and the participants from across Jamshedpur, Ranchi, Dhanbad and Bokaro got only an hour to prepare. Each participant was allowed four minutes to place his/her argument, followed by a question-answer session.
Jamshedpur schools took away the laurels.
In Category One, DBMS English School, comprising Divya Shekhar Bhatt Mishra and Shilpy Agarwal, won the debate held at JH Tarapore. Vijeeth Srinivas and Muskan Mascharak from Loyola were winners at the one hosted by ADLS Sunshine.
In Category Two, Airene Ganguly and G.S. Vishnu from Little Flower School, who took part at the debate in Gulmohur High, won. at the Motilal Nehru Public School competition, Loyola's team of Ahnik Ghosh and Aditya Nath was adjudged the best.
Now, all four teams will participate in the zonal round.
