Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU) Faculty of Engineering, Computer Engineering Department Vice Chair Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yıltan Bitirim wrote an article titled “Our Children and the Digital World”. The following was mentioned in Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bitirim’s article:
I want to start by saying, ‘Our children are our future’. Because everything we do for them today, whether big or small, will shape their future. They are our valuable assets. In 2021, the Turkish Statistical Institute carried out a "Research on the Use of Information Technologies in Children". The said study was conducted on children aged 6 to 15 years. First of all, I would like to comment and share some of the results that I found interesting in this study.
It has been determined that 83% of the children use the internet and 90% of these users use the internet every day. Of course, the increase in online education due to the COVID-19 pandemic has had a serious impact on these high rates. However, the question that should be asked seriously is for what purposes the internet is used. When we list the purposes of internet use in children who use the Internet regularly, "participating in an online course" with 86% and "searching the Internet for homework or learning" with 84% are in the first two places, which is quite normal. But on the other hand, there are other uses that we should not ignore. The rate for “Playing or downloading games” was found to be 66%, “Watching videos on sharing sites” is 61%, “Making audio or video calls over the Internet” is 55%, “Messaging” has been found to be 55% . Of course, social media is one of these purposes, the rate is 31%. In fact, children who use social media spend about 3 hours on social media every day! Well, you will say, what is the problem, then?!
Technology is developing every day. Although technology makes our lives easier and increases our living standards, it should not be our reason for living. If the topic is our children and the internet, which is an environment that no one can control, the aims and percentages that I have mentioned should not be overlooked. The internet is really important for the development of our children, but the fact that it has an uncontrollable and dynamic content imposes an extra responsibility on us. While our children are using the Internet, which is seen as a gate to the world, they must do this under your control!
When we look at the games played over the internet, the common points are that they can be played with players from all over the world and there is some sort of communication between the players. Therefore, it is important how your child is affected by the game s/he plays and with whom s/he communicates! Watching videos on different sites on the Internet, like YouTube, is an example of such sites. People from all over the world share videos on these sites. In addition to useful video content, there is also video content that is not age-appropriate, which may negatively affect your child. It also allows users to communicate with each other. So, we come to the same point again; How is your child affected and who is s/he communicating with! Since we gave the example of YouTube, I cannot help but say that YouTube is making a serious effort to control the shared content. There are parental controls on the site, and there is even a separate application that publishes content for children, called the YouTube Kids application. Is all this enough? I do not think so.
Making voice or video calls over the Internet, messaging, e-mailing, using social media, etc. Imagine our children, even as we adults lose ourselves in these from time to time. We come to the same point again, how is your child affected and with whom he communicates! While our child is playing with other children in the neighborhood, we see who they play with, we follow them with our eyes, otherwise we teach them the truth. When the child playing in the neighborhood falls, he is injured, we see him and take the necessary treatment. But the digital world is not like that! Unfortunately, if we do not follow and take care of it, we cannot see our child falling or the injuries he received in the digital world.
Of course, our children will benefit from the blessings of the digital world. But, we as parents have a big responsibility. Our children are children after all, do not put them in the adult class and protect them in the digital world as you protect them in the neighborhood until they become adults. Keep an eye on them, they are our precious ones!”
