Internet, is it important for kids ?
Is it important to know what the kids do with internet? Of course yes. Internet can expose things you have tried to protect them from, especially violence, pornography, consumerism, etc.
As we know, internet provides many unlimited information that can be obtained by all people in various ages, including kids. Nowadays, not only adults who are familiar with internet, the kids also are familiar with the internet. With low cost and easy to be accessed, today many parents install internet service in their PC at home. Mostly they allow their kids to make use the internet.
Positively, they can make use the internet facilities for obtaining many kinds information about their lessons, consulting to experts, finding out scholarship programs, long-distance learning or trying new multimedia lesson methods.
Negatively, mostly they often make use it just for fun, such as playing games, chatting, or browsing unimportant things for along day (Anisnila, 2008 in dunia.pelajar-islam.or.id). Moreover, currently the internet facilitates them with many community or friendship websites, such as Facebook, Friendster, Flixter, WAYN, etc. Currently the popular one is Facebook. They often spend much time in front of computer just for making comments for their friends, chatting or just playing games (e.g pet society, quizzes, etc.) in the Facebook site. Basically, Facebook is a friendship site that provides many options, such as changing comments among the people that have been being their friends; chatting among them; playing games or quizzes; or just looking for new or old friends. It has made ‘addictive effect’. It means that they are addicted to see and play or chat more and more for long time.
A research conducted by Karpinski from Ohio State University, US shows that the university students that routinely access and make use Facebook have lower scores than those who do not do it. Karpinski added that the addicted level significantly influences the students’ academic results. Unfortunately, it seems that the students do not realize it because in the research 79 percent of its respondents regard that it will not influence their academic achievement. If the adult learners cannot handle their time for study, what will be happen to kids?
Therefore, it can be concluded that basically kids have not been ready yet to be allowed to make use internet facilities because they are not responsible to their time whether for studying or playing. They have not been able to manage their time to play, study, have lunch or dinner, pray, even sleep. They can go to bed late if they are enjoying their time with internet. If they are addicted to use them, it will make them lazy to study. The worst thing, it can make them know about pornography because they can easily access the sites for adults just because of certain advertisement which is suddenly displayed when they are On Line in internet. Even, it can make them easily to tell a lie about their activities, because mostly their parents do not allow them to use it. Some students said that they often make use time for browsing lesson materials as chatting or playing internet games. In that case, they just use several minutes for finding out lesson materials which are conducted as school assignment, and the rest time as about several hours for chatting, playing games, or just giving comments to their Facebook’ friends.
By considering some facts mentioned above, let’s protect our kids or children with the following tips:
- Limit the internet time for once or twice a week (just in the weekend/holiday).
- Do not allow the children to have a computer set in their bedrooms.
- Review the websites that the children browse.
- Accompany/guide them when they need to find out or do their school assignments.
- Develop good behavior or ethics (akhlaq) to the children to do good deeds, so we can trust them everywhere and every time they need to make use internet facilities.
Written by Fitri D.W
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