Cyberspace overexposure leaves troubling mark on young minds
- By Wan Lixin
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, March 2, 2016
In my time, such a composition, conceived through misguided ideology, would certainly lead to a severe reprimand. But his teacher did not make additional comments apart from the mark "read" (meaning "I have read it").
As a matter of fact, the boy is considered a bright student and now attends an elite middle school.
Many children today have been exposed prematurely to the state of worldly affairs. Having been brought up on principles of efficiency and utilitarianism, their respect is often reserved for those who have mastered the art of accumulation. They believe that anything not useful is irrelevant and wasteful. They also quickly learn to appreciate the difference between what is preached and what is practiced.
One day last week, my son announced to me, with unusual solemnity, that "a most extraordinary event has taken place today." I was all ears, for, being reserved, my son rarely volunteers any information about his school.
"MC has been updated, at last," he announced. For the sake of politeness, I managed some perfunctory exclamation. MC, by the way, stands for "Minecraft," an online game where players stack virtual bricks. For many children like my son, immersion in the online world and estrangement from nature have shaped their perception of the real world.
An intimate understanding of nature is essential to a correct understanding of the world.
However pessimistic our affairs appear, it does not elude someone with a healthy exposure to the elements that our troubles diminish in the long perspective. To an urbanite buried in his energy-sapping pursuits, the perennial process of budding and leafing affords a glimpse into eternity. Similarly, overexposure to cyberspace makes our children bitter and pessimistic.
Educators have yet to fully wake up to the challenge of inculcation of ideology against the cacophony of the Internet.
Being defenseless, our kids in their impressionable state had already been overexploited by online operators. Children see things in black and white. If you have children, you known how vigorously uplifting or debasing a message can be for a child.
Negative online input can only be neutralized by a stronger dose of moral orthodoxy from parents, teachers and everyone in between.
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