kochi the controversy involving thoppi a youtuber with a mass following has blown the lid off what was whispered but never openly talked about in city schoolswhile social media influencers can have a positive impact there has been a growing concern over the toxic impact of some of them on young people who see them as role models and trendsetterstake the use of offensive words for instance according to a police officer one such social media influencer regularly uses the malayalam word for fart and it was picked up by a young follower who started tossing it around among his peers until it was flagged by teachersthere are some others who promote reckless driving they make lawbreaking fashionable teenagers start thinking that modifying vehicles or speeding is okay because that is how the influencers present it to them some others encourage hatred towards women for rejecting romantic advances and romanticizing violent acts by young men who face rejection said a police officerdr cj john sr consultant psychiatrist at medical trust hospital said that such uninhibited expressions attract teenagers quicklychildren who regularly consume it would start showing a behavior where such activities are modelled more than thoppis expressions we should be worried about the sheer number of underage persons who follow him it holds the warning that the content that attracts our under18 population are such things he said our efforts should be to empower this generation so that they do not blindly follow these negative influencers but think rationally so that they themselves can discard such content said dr john nodal officer cyberdome ig p prakash said that childrens guardians should keep an eye on who they choose to engage with and follow he also said that influencers have to act responsibly considering the mass following they have when you have a lot of followers that means your responsibility is higher he saidsources with the kerala state commission for protection of child rights said they had directed the state police chief to file a report on the matter once we receive the report we would conduct a comprehensive study on the risks posed by social media said a senior officialkerala cbse school management association president t p m ibrahim khan said negative content may appear harmless but the problem arises when young people start internalizing it