According to a study commissioned by the UNICEF, almost three-fourths, or 74% of Filipino school children are active “netizens.” The respondents, ages 10-17 years old and enrolled in public and private elementary and high schools, identified e-mailing, social networking and computer gaming as top reasons for using the web. On the other hand, for the remaining 26%, the absence of Internet connection at home and school was cited as the prominent reason for non-use. Others reasons include lack of knowledge on how to use computers, high cost and parental disapproval.
I took up my primary education in a province where public schools rarely had computers, or even if they had, either the students greatly outnumbered the available computers or the computers are so out-of-date that they hardly worked. I remembered in one public school in our province, the computer room only had around ten computers. Since said public school had a large student body, the school policy was that only the students in the top section were the ones given the privilege to use the computers. The others unfortunate students would have to settle with mere computer textbooks and their imagination. In fact, the common scenario in provincial public schools is that computer lessons were taught to students who may have never touched nor seen a computer, or may never even use a computer in his or her lifetime. My grade school teacher would often tell us how lucky we were as computer classes were part of the school curriculum and there is an adequate number of computers in our school. However, despite this, sometimes we still had to share computers as, given the cost of computer hardware at that time, the demand for computers in our school still outnumbered the computers units.
But that was during my time. Of course, everything is different now. The use of internet among school children has increased significantly due mainly to developments in technology, wider accessibility and the decline in the cost of access. Most schools now have computer laboratories. Computer classes are currently part of the basic academic curriculum. Internet cafes are sprouting everywhere, mostly nearby schools, and are readily accessible to students. The price of PC units, computer rental and internet usage has sharply decreased. When I was in high school, computer rental can go as high as P100.00 per hour; now it’s down to P15.00. In certain areas, wi-fi is even free. And to think, all these happened in a span of less than ten years.
However, despite the numerous developments, there is still room for improvement. A More Child-Friendly Cyberspace. Guarding against Child-Pornography. Online Privacy Protection. Responsible Internet Use. IT-Training for Teachers. Wider and More Accessible Internet Especially for Poor Students and those in Far-Flung Areas. Addressing Computer Addiction. These are just some of the issues which I can think of on the top of the head. But for now, suffice to say, the increase in access to the internet among schoolchildren has greatly changed the life of Filipino students. As to whether such change contributed for the better or merely exposed students to further dangers and distractions, now, that is the question.
(Source: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/231543/filipino-schoolchildren-are-active-netizens-aijc-survey-reveals, http://www.phototour.minneapolis.mn.us/pics/6706.jpg http://files.myopera.com/lexiz08/blog/DSC01758.jp)
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