The yet to be released first film of social media sensation Priya Varrier is in the news, again. This time, though, it seems to have rubbed viewers the wrong way. A clip from the movie Oru Adaar Love has gone viral on social media in which Varrier can be seen kissing the male lead paired opposite her, in the school premises. And this seems to have raised many eyebrows, as a result of which people are now trolling Varrier.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- A clip from Priya Varrier's upcoming debut film has gone viral on social media.
- It shows the actor kissing her co-star in the school premises, and that has offended a lot of people.
- Are we simply going to pretend that teens don't explore sexuality on and off school campus?
- Denial and moral policing isn't the solution here. Giving proper sex education to teens is.
Their concern is that such a scene could impart “wrong” values to school kids, telling them that it is okay to do “such things,” that too in school. As a parent, seeing kids in school uniform making out in school premises does give one a panic attack. But here is my question, why are we pretending that this doesn’t happen? Will criticising a film from featuring such a scene alter the reality of high school romances, some of which end in intimate encounters? This and much more happens in schools across the world, even in our country. That’s the truth, even though it is concerning, for a parent but will moral policing make it go away?
I doubt that. Moral policing will only put a wall between us and our kids, making it difficult for us to reach out to them. It is only natural for teenagers brimming with hormones to feel attracted to each other. They will want to explore their sexuality and our policing is only going to make matters worse. Which is why trolling Varrier or calling this kiss immoral solves nothing. It just shows how easy it is to rile us. Even a kiss is enough to outrage us, just because it challenges our sensibilities, despite being nothing more than a glamorous reflection of everyday high school reality.
Moral policing will only put a wall between us and our kids, making it difficult for us to reach out to them.
I am not endorsing but putting forth that this is a reality which we are pretending to be non-existent. The solution here isn’t outrage but reaching out to kids and discussing sex, love and attraction. To realise the value of sex education among teens, and how it cannot be replaced with a lecture on morality. We must instill values in our children to respect the code of conduct at school. We can teach them the difference between appropriate and inappropriate behaviour at school. But we cannot certainly apply censorship on children after a certain age. Obscenity and immorality are too harsh tags here, but since sex and sexuality still remains a taboo in our culture, we dole them out generously.
The outrage over Varrier’s kissing scene is more of a question on how we need to change the way we handle teens and their evolving sexuality.
Moral policing only makes teens more curious. They will not understand our concern. In fact, they will take it as a challenge to their developing egos, to break the very rules you want them to follow so desperately. Which should make us wonder Indian parenting techniques on whole. For long we have relied on censorship and policing to keep our kids in check. But does that actually keep them out of trouble? Do high school kids not kiss or get intimate out of fear of their parents, or do they just get better at hiding stuff, to avoid consequences? The outrage over Varrier’s kissing scene is more of a question on how we need to change the way we handle teens and their evolving sexuality.
Picture Credit: newsbugz.com
Also Read : Why Sex Education In Schools Is The Need Of The Hour
Yamini Pustake Bhalerao is a writer with the SheThePeople team, in the Opinions section. The views expressed are the author’s own.
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