Real world Net cynicism in a wired world 

Recently my better half and I gave a talk to a group of 18- and
19-year-olds on why the Internet is important and how it is going to
impact their lives. 

Getting the group together was a tough task in itself. The organizer had
to battle with the teenagers' schedule which seemed packed beyond
belief. At the rate they were going, I could have baked a dozen
cheesecakes several times over. 

When the day arrived, brimming with enthusiasm, we dispensed nuggets of
gold on the wonders of the Internet and how we, who have had the surfing
experience, could see the potential that lay ahead of these youngsters.
We wanted them to see it, too. We wanted to show them and give them a
shortcut in life. 

After almost an hour of expounding the possibilities of the Net, we
arrived at question time. The audience went silent. Not to be dismissed,
we asked the questions instead... What we heard instead was "no time",
"too busy with schoolwork", "cybercafe so far", "I can't afford", "I
tried to get on but the Internet was so slow", "my friend said don't buy
PC because it'll go obsolete". 

We stared at these teenagers in disbelief. These were excuses and not
acceptable argument for not getting online. At least the group was
candid and frank with its answers. But it was alarming how these teens
saw IT as something they could live without--at least for now. 

Sure, using computers is part of their school lessons. But at a rate of
one hour a week in the syllabus, the PC was reduced to an item,
something they switched on to complete English comprehension exercises. 

Some have been more fortunate. They have explored the Net, chatted in
chat rooms, and sent an occasional email. Pretty mindless, they probably
think. But if they didn't take charge of their activities online or
allow their curiosity to get the better of them on the information
superhighway, all that they do on the Net would continue to be mindless
anyway. 

Malaysia boleh? 
It felt like being hit by a nuclear blast. How could this be? What
happened to our national slogan "Malaysia boleh"? Did our youngsters'
creative minds slowly submerge under the pressure of exams? 

Did they fall prey to parental and peer pressure that success equals to
excellent grades at school? Maybe I am too idealistic and should not be
startled to discover that most Malaysian teenagers conduct mindless
activities online. Wait a minute, let me correct that. Most Malaysians--
adults included--seem to prefer the fun facet of the Net. 

We all like the entertainment and fun bits offered by the Net. Yet, as
parents, alarms shrill for fear that their children's young minds will
be poisoned by the World Wide Web. After all, the Net does have its fair
share of lies and pornography, malicious hackers and manuals on making
bombs right in your living room. 

And so it is not baffling to note that our youngsters think the answer
lies in the system. They perceive the need to fit within the system.
Otherwise they will fall along the wayside. 

It is a Malaysian mindset that is, alas, difficult to blot out. 

Learning to swim in the information sea 
The sad fact is the Internet is really the best thing since sliced
bread. It has leveled the playing field, giving everyone of us the
opportunity to test and realize our potential. But to find out what can
be done through the Net, our kids need to experience the entire process
in discovering the Net before trying something more serious. 

So as the Internet continues to empower kids elsewhere in the world, we
will always be contriving to catch up. We will argue about how much time
our kids spend in front of the PC monitor and the rising phone bills
that we parents have to bear as a consequence. 

Our view of the Net remains myopic as we continue to delude ourselves
that the Internet is a new "toy" that must be kept away from our
children. We live in the delusion that information is a beast that comes
with the label "to be handled by adults only". Little wonder that our
kids are less than enthusiastic about the Internet. 

We warned our young audience: "You can run from computers, you can avoid
them... but you cannot avoid information. Information is destined to
overwhelm you." 

The point is to get on with the Net. It is too large to ignore. The
sooner we are familiar with that "beast", the better we will understand
it. Hopefully, that understanding will someday translate into wisdom. 

For now, that wisdom is sorely lacking. Many parents continue to believe
that even trickling bits of information to youngsters will do more harm
than good. While kids elsewhere are agile swimmers in the current of the
information sea, exploring its murky bottom and setting up hyperlinked
islands of their own design on the surface, we sit back as if to say:
"You don't need to know how to swim in order to live in this wired
world". 

Disregarding the Net is not only willful, our children may become the
next casualty and join the league of roadkills littering the information
superhighway. 

By Anita Devasahayam, Published in CNET Asia, November 29, 1999