MUHAMMAD IHSAN KHUZAIRI A1B214032

Guiding Better Internet Use for Future Generation

By Muhammad Ihsan Khuzairi A1B214032

Internet is a double-edged sword for children and teenagers. It can be fun place to interact with the world, with endless possibilities for learning and socialising many other people from various nationality, gender, religion, races, cultures and many more without boundaries of time and space. It can  help them to study and learn many new things to broaden their knowledge but also can  lead them  into danger, such as pornography, scams, cyber-crime and bullying, and many more. Young & Abreu (2011) also stated that spend  too many times in internet can caused some negative repercussion, including declining school results or even dropping out of school; increased family tension; abandoned hobbies; psychological problems such as depression, anxiety or low self-esteem; and physical health problems due to sleep deprivation and lack of physical activity. Also according to a study conducted by University of Florida, the students who use internet two to three hours on a daily basis are more prone to be a prey to sexual exploitation.  As unpleasant it seems, it is inevitable because of globalization has caused all kinds of information to be easily accessed by everyone regardless of gender or age. To counter this concerning issue, one of the best solutions is to initiate internet monitoring from both parents and governments.

Internet is dangerous and full of malicious contents, but it does not mean  it does not have good or useful content. Browsing in the internet can be a fun experience for both children and parents. This is where the role of parent is needed to guide their children to use internet wisely, to tell them which site they should and should not open and tell them why they needed parental monitoring when using the internet. Research found that parents mediation is effetive in controlling children’s Internet use. It seems that monitoring and accompanying children’s Internet use will reduce online risky experiences (Turow & Nir, 2000). Berson and Berson (2005)” also found that if parents talk to their teenage daughters, this reduced the likelihood of contact risks; by implication, a positive parental attitude to sharing and supporting their child’s Internet use may enhance take-up of online opportunities” (Facer, et al., 2003). By giving the children better understanding and guide them in using internet rather than berate them and forbid them from opening dangerous site without explaining the reason, the children will be able to choose which site they need or appropriate for them to access by themself later.” Children who access the internet from such safe, self-organised learning environments gain immensely over ones who don't. They learn to read sooner and better, they gain in self-confidence and they retain what they have researched for much longer than that gained through traditional rote learning.” (Mitra, 2013)

As writer stated earlier, internet has full of information that can be accessed easily and traveled around the globe. In this case, a lot of negative things can reach and affect the children if the flows of internet are not carefully filtered and sorted. It can lead into serious problem like moral degradation of children and teenagers (which is ironically happened to children and teenagers in our country now). Research has shown that many young children and teenager have been exposed into bad role models based on their surfing experience in internet and easily motivated to imitate these bad examples. It is also shown that number of children and teenager’s violence have been risen since 2013 from 14 % into 17 % per year. This situation should be more than enough as reason for the government to step in and regulate the flow of internet usage. Take example of UK Internet safety plan, UK Education Secretary Nicky Morgan said,  “ These measures (regarded to UK internet safety plan) are delivering on the government’s commitment to keep children safe from harm, as well as providing helpful support and information for professionals and parents so we are all equipped to help protect children in this digital age”. Another example would be Scotland’s Child Internet Safety Action Plan, which proposed by Scotland’s Minister for Children and Early ages, Adam Ingram, MSP. It was an act that created to protect children internet safety all over Scotland. The goverment should follow these movement and start to monitor which content of internet that allowed to accessed and also tell people about healthy internet usage.

Some people might say internet is free to access and should not be restricted, some other people said internet is dangerous and should not be used at all. But we do believe that internet can be beneficial if we use it wisely and properly. Internet can help a lot in people lives, whether it is in educational, social, economic, or other purposes. For instance, researchers from Johns Hopkins University and the University of Ghana looked at the benefits of teens using the Internet for health information in the developing world, where access to health information is scarce.

The study surveyed 778 15- to 18-year-olds living in Accra, Ghana, who were either in school or out of school on their Internet usage and knowledge of health information. Two thirds (66%) of the youth who were in school and around half (54%) of the youth who were out of school had gone online previously. "Out-of-school youth in Ghana may have parents with less formal education than the in-school youth, and this may inhibit certain discussions around sex and health," said lead author Dina L. G. Borzekowski, EdD. "With HIV/AIDs rampant in Africa, our finding has tremendous public health implications. The Internet may be an increasingly effective way to reach lower socioeconomic youth with prevention messages." Furthermore, the Internet is invaluable for adolescents who want to find out more about personal, sensitive and embarrassing issues related to their bodies, relationships and health, she added.

Internet is very useful and beneficial for our children studies if we able to use it wisely and can filter or choose which content is good or suitable for them. Sugata Mitra said, “The internet is not a monster we have created. It is us. Our collective consciousness and, unfortunately, our collective subconscious. We like our privacy. We don't like others to look at our screens when we do our emailing. We don't "do" Facebook in public. It is our secretiveness that makes the internet a dangerous place”. This is where the roles of parents and governments are needed. They should conjoining and work together in monitoring, supervising, and guiding the children and teenagers about how important is Positive internet usage. By guiding them, we can teach them about what is good and what is not in internet, if we forbid them, they will only become curious and more likely to have risk being exposed and affected to the bad side of the internet. It is our job as an adult to ensure bright future for our next generation.

References

Jackson, L. A., PhD, Eye, A. V., PhD, & Biocca, F., PhD. (n.d.). Children and Internet Use: Social, Psychological and Academic Consequences for Low-income Children. Retrieved December 26, 2016, from http://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2003/12/jackson.aspx

Putri, R. T. (n.d.). Top 10 Negative effects of internet on students. Retrieved from http://retnotamia.blogspot.co.id/2013/04/top-10-negative-effects-of-internet-on.html

Smahel, D. (n.d.). Www.eukidsonline.net November 2012 1 ISSN 2045- 256X Excessive Internet Use among European Children. Retrieved from http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/47344/1/Excessive%20internet%20use.pdf

Mitra, S. (n.d.). The internet can harm, but can also be a child's best tool for learning . Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/03/child-safety-internet-web-access

Smahel, D. & Blinka, L. (2012)‘Excessive Internet use among European children’,in S. Livingstone, L. Haddon and A.Görzig(eds) Children, risk and safety online: Research and policy challenges in comparative perspective, Bristol: The Policy Press, pp. 191–203.

Morgan, N., MP. (2015, December 22). New measures to keep children safe online at school and at home. Retrieved from https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-measures-to-keep-children-safe-online-at-school-and-at-home

Eastin, M., Greenberg, B. S., & Hofschire, L. (2006). Parenting the Internet. Journal of Communication, 56, 486—504

Lenhart, A., Madden, M., & Hitlin, P. (2005). Teens and Technology. Washington, DC: Pew Internet and American Life Project.