You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Many young people today know more about international pop or movie stars than about famous people in the history of their own country. Why is this? What can be done to increase young people’s interest in famous people in the history of their country? 

REPORTED IN OCTOBER, 2021

 Celebrity lifestyle is something which many young people today are well-aware of rather than knowing the basic information on great personalities in the history of their own respective countries. Two major factors are thought to be causing this and it is really difficult to create an interest on historical figures in this tech-savvy world.

 The cardinal reason why this occurs is because of the changing lifestyle of people. To be precise, today, people try to act as ‘virtual social beings’, making fewer direct personal interactions these days when compared to the past. The topics they discuss in between also have transformed greatly. For example, very few youngsters are interested in history and historical aspects as evident by fewer students in History classes. Instead they are interested in gossips and private life of celebrities including pop, movie or sports stars and this is what becoming viral on social media too frequently.

 The second major contributing factor is the media hype of these celebrities. To be clearer, media is projecting these types of people as ‘superhuman figures’ and accelerate the level of curiosity among the people, especially the young. As a result, most youngsters have these people as their role models, and have least interest in historical figures.

 It appears to be a herculean task to encourage young people to learn about people of historical importance of their own country. This is because the world is now concentrated on scientific and technical advancements rather than studying the past. Foreseeing as the field which offers the least opportunities, not many parents encourage their children to study such aspects. Governments also have realised that they have more important sectors to concentrate than promoting history studies.

 To conclude, it is clear that lifestyle changes and media are the two major factors which created this situation, and it does not appear to reverse.