The presence of new media and the digital era slipped all the anxiety of parents. The reason is, the results of ECPAT research in 2017, quite a lot of children are exposed to pornography through smart phones. This is certainly troubling, said Ayu, a lecturer in Communication Studies, Coordinator of community service at the Department of Communication Science, Fisip Undip. Therefore, the Department of Communication Science took the initiative to hold community service with the theme of digital literacy.

For Mrs. Yoto, the teacher of Pertiwi Tembalang Kindergarten, it was as if we were welcome, because we were worried about her and wanted to find a solution to the problem. Moreover, the Indonesian Child Protection Commission also recorded sad data, 97 percent of high school children had access to pornographic/negative content.

“One of our offers is for parents to build more precise communication with their children. Forbidding them to touch gadgets doesn’t seem like an easy answer,” explained Agus Naryoso, a lecturer in the Communication Studies Study Program, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Undip.

“Yes, we are not experts here, so when we were sharing with parents, some brilliant ideas emerged from them,” explained Dr Adi Nugroho, M.Si, from the Undip community service team as well. Ibu Juni, for example, said that she required certain “clauses/options” for her sons and daughters regarding whether or not their children were given the opportunity to use cell phones. As a result, they can divide their time to recite the Koran in the prayer room, study and do their homework at home and use their cellphones to taste.

Community service with the theme of media literacy for teachers and parents of Pertiwi Tembalang Kindergarten Semarang also presented two other lecturers, namely Dr. Hedi Pudjo Santoso and Dr. Sri Budi Lestari which took place at TK Pertiwi Tembalang. This service aims to prevent children from being exposed to pornographic/negative content as much as possible.

Give another alternative

The lecturers of communication science also offer schools to provide certain ways and strategies for their students so that they pay more attention to non-gadget educational games, for example, or if forced to try to provide more educational content that is fun for them. There is still a kind of traditional game or playing in the arena with the instructors of the teachers.

Related to digital literacy, Agus Naryoso offers several alternatives, for example limiting children’s access to content that is only for their age, monitoring and monitoring children’s behavior using this gadget as well as providing education and understanding for children to only access content according to their age.

Ayu added that there are regular patterns of mentoring for the generation of children in this digital era, because it is not easy to completely prohibit the use of cell phones. “There needs to be proportion using this smart media with a kind of game in the real world,” he added.

Lend cellphones to children according to their needs and needs, Adi Nugroho added, adding that this is also a preventive measure because when they are older they will get used to media well, because it is not impossible if “reckless” intersects with violations of the ITE Law, for example.

Ninik, S.Pd, the principal of the Pelangi Kindergarten, hopes that Undip can come back to his school with continued service, with the theme of digital literacy on the phenomenon of violence which has recently worried educators. Present at the service were the managers of the Kindergarten Foundation, as well as the principal of the Pertiwi Tembalang Kindergarten School in Semarang.

Source: undip.ac.id