Fraying Norms and the Call for Civic Awareness
As social norms continue to fray in the wake of rising urban stress and digital distractions, the need for self-discipline and public responsibility has never been more urgent. Citizens must learn to keep their impulses on a leash, especially in public spaces like parks and promenades, where shared civility defines the atmosphere. Recent events have taken a grim turn, with reckless behavior and public spats becoming increasingly common, possibly portending a deeper societal divide.
In such times, the role of steadfast individuals—those who remain committed to values of respect and patience—becomes vital. Their steadfast conduct serves as a reminder of the standards we risk losing. However, even sincere efforts can be vitiated by poor enforcement of laws and a lack of awareness. When the ambit of civic education remains limited to academic settings, its real-world impact suffers.
Despite these challenges, many continue to advocate for change, making the assertion that awareness, if consistent, can transform mindsets. Still, without support from authorities and community leaders, even noble initiatives face detriment. The journey to restore harmony is long, but with shared accountability, progress is possible.
Vocabulary from the passage with their contextual explanation
(1) Fray
- Meaning: To become worn out, unraveled, or weakened, especially emotionally or socially.
Unravel– If a piece of knitted or woven cloth, a knot, or a mass of thread unravels, it separates into a single thread, and if you unravel it, you separate it into a single thread:
- Contextual Explanation: In the passage, “social norms continue to fray” implies that values and behavior patterns that maintain societal order are deteriorating or weakening.
- Example Sentence: After weeks of intense pressure at work, his patience began to fray.
(2) In the wake of
- Meaning: “In the wake of” means following or as a result of something, especially a significant or impactful event (often negative or serious).
- Contextual Explanation: “In the wake of recent social disturbances, the government has initiated public awareness campaigns.” Here, it means “after” the disturbances, or as a consequence of them.
- Example Sentences: In the wake of the financial crisis, many people lost their jobs.
(3) Leash
- Meaning: A restraint or control (literally used for animals, but metaphorically for controlling emotions or behavior).
- Contextual Explanation: “Keep their impulses on a leash” suggests people should control their emotions and reactions in public.
- Example Sentence: She managed to keep her anger on a tight leash during the argument.
(4) Promenades
- Meaning: A promenade is a public place for walking, typically a wide path in a scenic or leisurely area, such as along a seafront or in a park. It can also refer to the act of taking a walk for pleasure.
- Contextual Explanation: Here, promenades refers to the walkways or public areas where people stroll leisurely. It highlights a sense of peace and normalcy returning after a period of unrest.
- Example Sentence: On Sundays, families often gather at the lake’s promenades to relax and enjoy the sunset.
(5) Grim
- Meaning: Grim means serious, gloomy, or depressing. It can also suggest something harsh or unpleasant, often connected with difficult or worrying situations.
- Contextual Explanation: Here, grim is used to describe the serious and discouraging state of the situation. It tells us that things were looking bad or hopeless.
- Example Sentences: The news from the disaster site was grim, with rising casualties.
(6) Reckless behaviour
- Meaning: Reckless behaviour refers to actions taken without thinking about the consequences, often dangerous, careless, or irresponsible.
- Contextual Explanation: It means the person acted irresponsibly and without concern for safety, possibly driving too fast or ignoring traffic rules.
Breakdown:
Reckless = without caution; heedless (taking little or no notice) of danger.
Behaviour = the way a person acts.
Together, it describes actions done in a careless or thoughtless manner.
- Example Sentences: His reckless behaviour during the protest led to several injuries.
(7) Public spats
- Meaning: Public spats are disagreements or arguments that happen openly or in front of others, especially in the media or public view.
Breakdown:
Public = open or visible to everyone (like on TV, social media, news).
Spats = small, often petty quarrels or disputes.
So, a public spat is a minor fight or argument that happens where others can see or hear it.
- Contextual Explanation: It means they argued openly, maybe during interviews, press conferences, or social media posts, where everyone could watch or read it.
- Example Sentences: Celebrities often have public spats on social media that go viral.
(8) Portending
- Meaning: Portending means giving a sign or warning that something (usually bad) is going to happen.
- Contextual Explanation: If something is portending, it acts as a signal or indicator of future events, especially negative ones like danger, trouble, or change.
- Example Sentence:
“The dark clouds portending a storm made everyone rush indoors.”
This means the dark clouds were a sign that a storm was likely coming.
(9) Steadfast
- Meaning: Unchanging in beliefs or actions, even when faced with difficulty or chaos.
The passage emphasizes that such individuals are crucial in restoring or maintaining civility when it starts to “fray” or break down in society.
- Contextual Explanation: In this passage, steadfast describes people who stay committed and loyal to positive values, such as respect and patience, even when society seems to be breaking down due to rising stress, distractions, and uncivil behavior
- Example Sentence: Even in the face of widespread negativity, her steadfast optimism inspired everyone around her.
(10) Vitiated
- Meaning: Vitiated means to spoil, weaken, or reduce the effectiveness of something.
- Contextual Explanation: The passage is explaining that even when people try sincerely to uphold values and behave responsibly, their efforts can be undermined or ruined if there is poor enforcement of laws or lack of civic awareness. So, no matter how well-intentioned people are, their actions won’t have the desired impact if the system around them is weak or failing.
- Example Sentence: The effectiveness of the new policy was vitiated by a lack of proper implementation.
(11) Ambit
- Meaning: Ambit means the scope, range, or extent of something.
- Contextual Explanation: The author is pointing out that if civic education is only confined to schools and textbooks, and doesn’t extend into real-life applications and public spaces, then its influence is limited and ineffective. So here, ambit refers to how far civic education reaches or is applied.
- Example Sentence: The new law expands the ambit of environmental protection to include urban areas.
(12) Assertion
- Meaning: a confident or strong statement or claim
- Contextual Explanation: The author is saying that even though there are many challenges, some people still believe strongly—and state confidently—that if people stay consistently aware and conscious, it can change how society thinks and behaves.
- Example Sentence: Her assertion that education is the key to equality sparked an important debate.
(13) Detriment
- Meaning: It refers to something that causes harm, damage, or loss, especially by weakening the effectiveness, success, or well-being of something else.
- Contextual Explanation: The author is saying that even the most noble and well-intentioned efforts to bring about positive change can be harmed or fail if they do not receive support from key figures like authorities or community leaders. So, detriment refers to something that negatively affects progress or success.
- Example Sentence: The lack of funding was a major detriment to the project’s success.
