In this age of digital technology, quality time with parents is often replaced by gadgets. Many children in Generation Z, also often called the “net generation”, become familiar with gadgets before they are 5 years old.
A Kompas poll on July 18-19 shows a general permissiveness among adults, parents or otherwise, towards children’s use of gadgets. A majority of respondents (83.1 percent) said that children 13 years old and above might be allowed to use internet-connected gadgets. Another 15.8 percent of respondents said that they would allow children under 13 years old to use internet-connected gadgets.
This permissive attitude mirrors the findings of the Communications and Informatics Ministry in early 2018 that 65.34 percent of internet use in Indonesia consisted of individuals between 9 and 19 years old. Children generally use the internet to access social media sites such as YouTube and to play online games.
Despite agreeing that children could use internet-connected gadgets, 49 percent of respondents said they realized that children should be monitored when accessing digital content. Some 62.3 percent of respondents said that pornography had the most adverse impact among negative digital content, followed by violent content (14.2 percent) and consumerist content (8.5 percent).
Children of a young age are still searching for their identities and often mimic others’ behavior, including those they see online. A case that serves as a cautionary tale is the January 20 murder of a ride-hailing service driver in Semarang, reportedly by two teenagers aged 15 and 16. The teens were believed to have been influenced by the violent online games they played.
Some 34.3 percent of respondents believed that online games were a bad influence on children, as they were designed for continuous play and people could easily become addicted to them. Online portals and social media sites were also seen as having adverse effects, although not as severe as online games.
Therefore, strict rules are required to limit children’s access to online services. These rules may include, for instance, a limitation on access time.
Routinely checking children’s gaming and social media activities would also be wise. However, most importantly, parents should provide good examples of proper gadget use, including not using them in front of their children.
Gianie, Kompas R&D
