Indonesia
C’mon Mom, Be Techno-Savvy
Mrs Vitria is techno-luddite. She doesn’t use smart phone, laptop, digital camera, Webcam, iPod, WiFi, Wii, Skype, Kindle, and the kinds. She doesn’t download music, movies, or else from the intertubes. She has an e-mail account with an instant message feature, but never activated it, never visited a chat room, never had a Facebook page, or Twitter.
Astrid, Mrs Vitria’s daughter, is techno-savvy. Computers and technology labs are part of her elementary school system. In young age, she is more exposed to using computers, cell phones MP3 players, than a television set. Her thumbs can move very fast to create message or to explore her gadget. “Mom, don’t be obsolete. Take the full benefit of technology,” said Astrid to Mrs Vitria.
Are you ignorant to techno just like Mrs Vitria, Supermom? Well, it’s true if you have an argument like this, “I don’t need to update my status on Facebook or Twitter. No one cares that i’m leaving for lunch now or that i’ve just returned. I even don’t want people to interrupt me when i’m eating.”
Okay. But what about bad and negative exposure of social new media to our kids? If we’re techno-savvy, we can offer cyberspace guidance to our kids. We can check up on our kids’ cyberspace activities to really know what they’re doing with computer or cell-phone. We can set some ground rules before they sign up for any online groups.
On the other side, we can befriend with our kids online by enlist ourself to our kids’ social network. We can talk about updates and be the guide of kids. We can share offline moments too, while keeping the track of Superkids. However, we don’t need to spy on their every activity. If we’re techno-literate, what we must do is smart vigil.
TEGUH WAHYU UTOMO
PHOTOS: PHOTOS
