June has been particularly loaded with violent crimes, some of which having claimed priceless human lives under our envied paradisiacal latitudes. From the desecration of tombs at Western cemetery to the savage killing of a 57-year old lady suspected of gossiping, passing by the fatal knifing of a young man at Lakepoint, to mention but a few was the horror film menu forced onto the population during the past month.

The only difference is that the films do not end with the death of the actors as suggested by the local expression: ?akter mor film fini? (actor dies, film ends). They all come with real pain and sorrow. Those who have lost dear ones in such conditions know what it means! They all come with traumatic side effects. Imagine the mindset of a driver having to work under the risk of facing death again at the tip of a robber?s knife. They all add up to create a feeling of real insecurity so noxious to the welfare of society. Their effects cannot be wiped out by switching off the DVD. They hurt for real and must be addressed seriously by all means.

Our society has progressed at lightning speed in the past few years. A simple example is the breathtaking significant change brought to our audiovisual landscape. In his book entitled ?Les dernières générations de l?écrit? (The last generations of the written word), aimed at showing the adverse effects of TV, Swiss writer René Duboux concludes by quoting our island where ?80% of households possess a TV set?. He further comments on the ?silent revolution? brought by ?tourism, industrialisation and the small screen? on a once isolated island, which now forms part of the global village.

In 1989 when his book was published, we hardly had two local TV channels and only 40% of households had a video player. The advent of cable TV and other affordable facilities such as DVD players together with a great variety of no less inexpensive movies has further increased accessibility and diversity of audiovisual entertainment by tenfold. Whilst a few years back, TV programming occupied part of a newspaper page, now it needs to be published in a magazine like supplement!

Would it not be blindfolded to underestimate the effects of this host of audiovisual entertainment flooding the intimacy of our abodes, only from our remote controls?

We all know how fast human nature is prone to ape wrong behaviours. Considering the glorification and omnipresence of violence in many a movie, would it be completely wrong to suspect their contribution in the making of a violent Mauritius?

Should we then stop watching TV? Of course not, but parental control is desirable. School teachers and media must also create awareness on uncontrolled TV watching. More developedentertainment facilities would definitely benefit the nation. People need to vent out the stress of a busy life andTV is not necessarily the most appropriate way to do so.

Security in public places and roads needs to be enhanced, as some people now prefer staying in front of their TV sets rather than going on an outing, which may be compromised by troublemakers. A thorough study on the effects of recent audiovisual developments on our social fabric is therefore welcome (if not already done). Meanwhile TV and media are to be handled with care and moderation.

A good film to be watched though is that of Gandhi, the non violent man of the last millennium. While we were deploring some ruthless acts perpetrated during the past month, on 15th June, the international community agreed in its great majority to proclaim the birth date of Gandhi as International Non-violence day.

Well, why not learn to know more about that great man? Why not talk more about him in the media and study his life, wisdom and writings at school? It could be one way to crack down the influence of the stereotyped ruthless heroes that we worship on TV?