Preventing Students from Getting Dragged Away by the Digital Tsunami

KOMPAS/RIZA FATHONI

Children use gadgets in Cideng area, Central Jakarta, Wednesday (18/7/2018). The use of gadgets by children requires parental supervision, guidance and restrictions to prevent negative impacts from exposure to social media and online games.

On Wednesday (18/7/2018), several students of SMP Tarakanita 3 middle school in Jakarta were having lunch together in the school hall during recess. They sat in groups, chatting and joking.

Eighth-grader Putra Agung Jaya said this was way more fun, adding that he agreed with his school’s gadget ban. “The school provides us with gadgets when we need them so we don’t have to bring ours to school,” Putra said.

Six years ago, SMP Tarakanita 3 Jakarta banned students from bringing gadgets to school. The school instead provides five gadgets for students who wish to contact their parents or order a ride-hailing service.

“It’s not that the school is refusing to address problems. It’s that we wish to reaffirm the idea that school is where students socialize with one another. Let the students see school as a place to interact with others,” SMP Tarakanita 3 Jakarta principal Bernardus Yudo Ismedi said.

In the past five years, SMPN 76 Jakarta state middle school has also imposed a gadget ban for students. The ban was established as teachers considered gadgets a bad influence on students.

“Before the ban was imposed, there was a case of ninth graders watching porn together. We also had female students exchanging rude words on social media as they were fighting over a boy,” the school’s counselor, Tugiman Taufik, said on Thursday (19/7/2018).

Findings of negative content, especially pornography, on students’ gadgets led SMKN 2 Pariaman state vocational school in West Sumatra to impose a gadget ban. The school administration saw that gadgets disrupted students’ concentration. There were cases of students browsing social media sites in classes.

Despite the ban, some students were still found to be bringing gadgets to the school. If this is found, the gadgets are seized and the students are told to sign a statement letter, which is then sent to their parents. “We have seized 10 gadgets,” SMKN 2 Pariaman vice principal of curriculum affairs Hasnul Rizki said.

A number of others schools merely limit gadget use instead of imposing a full ban. SMAN 24 Jakarta state high school still allows students to use their gadgets in classes that require them or during recess.

SMPN 229 Jakarta state middle school allows students to use gadgets in certain classes under teacher supervision. Violation of the rule will lead to confiscation of the gadget.

SMPN 229 Jakarta vice principal Saul Tanjung said gadget use among students was inevitable as technology became more advanced. “In certain classes, gadgets are needed to find study materials online,” Saul said.

Guidance

Technological advancements are inevitable and the digital tsunami cannot be held back. This has led to schools providing guidance for students on how to use technology, including gadgets, properly to prevent them from getting dragged away by the tsunami’s current and ending up getting lost in cyberspace.

“Children should be educated about technological advancements, but they must still be monitored,” SDN Kebon Jeruk 11 Pagi arts and culture and English teacher Utami Dewi said.

The school implemented an e-learning system using an application called Edmodo to distribute assignments for fourth, fifth, and sixth graders. Utami said all teachers at her school taught lessons on healthy internet use for students.

To reduce gadget dependency among students, SMP Tarakanita 3 Jakarta eighth-grade homeroom teacher Swarny Silaban once established a “one week without electronics” program. For one week, students are told to use their spare time at home on activities without electronic devices, such as reading books or joining dance classes.

Cooperation between schools and parents is necessary to guide students on proper use of technology. Psychiatrist Dewi Prisca Sembiring of Koesnadi General Hospital in Bondowoso, East Java, said parents and teachers determined whether or not students will be addicted to gadgets.

“The internet and gadgets, if used properly, have their benefits. Students must be guided to limit themselves in using gadgets,” she said.

(E05/E15/DNE/TAN/ELN/GER/ZAK/COK/SON)