RESPONSIBLE USE OF CYBERSPACE

--oOo— DANNY V. MANUEL

DepEd officials asked parents to pay close attention to their children’s online activity to avoid self-harm encouraged by online challenges.

The “Momo Challenge” which urges children to harm themselves went viral online. With this news, the Department of Education said that parents should maintain an open communication line with their children so that the latter will build trust and confidence in speaking up about negative pressures brought about by these online challenges.

Internet access among children has been a concern for most parents. As much as they want to limit their child’s access to internet, it is easily accessible wherever they are, even if they are away from their parents or they are in school. Exposure to different sites may be beneficial but at some extent it may cause significant negative effect among youngster who are not able to use internet responsibly. Aside from sites with pornographic contents, there are places in the web where they may be indulging to self-harm, in worst cases, committing suicide.

As teachers and second-parents to our students, we are also held responsible in making sure that our students are protected from any harm that is indirectly inflicted by their exposure to the internet. We have to constantly remind them that although internet has many helpful purposes, there are sites that they should never visit. Let us keep on telling them that the utilization of these media should always be guided and moderated. Let us make them realize that this technology is good for educational purposes and that they should never let these media take away the best from them and pressure them negatively to the extent that they will inflict harm to themselves. Let us help parents in making the cyberspace clean, friendly and violence-free.

The author is Teacher II at Pampanga High School