Social media is now commonly used in all levels of the society around the world and
in fact it has become an indispensable necessity for many people. It serves as a virtually unlimited communication tool that provides convenience for interacting and bridging people to connect. However, despite the benefits from social media usage, on the other side of the coin, there are certain consequences that have developed from irresponsible use of social media, particularly among the younger generation.
Indiana University alumni posed together with 8th grade students and faculty.
Just to name a few, those consequences include: the addiction to social media. the unawareness of privacy rights and conflicts/tension arising from the use of social media.
Andries (left) and Indiah (right) interact with a student.
Teenagers would spend so many hours a day with their smart phones or other gadgets to interact using the social media, and then
they would become “detached” to the real world which may lead to low academic performance. As teenagers may not necessarily understand privacy rights and its consequences, they could become easy targets of crime such as pedophilia, human trafficking, pornography and other crimes through social media;
Hoax news or improper language used in the social media may cause conflict or tension among the users or the users may become victims of cyber-bullying etc.
Students signed the pledge “Social Media for Social Good”.
Considering this “phenomenon”, just in time for the IU Day, Yayasan Alumni IU Indonesia decided to organize an event in the form of an Edu Talk with the theme “Social Media for Social Good” specifically for teenagers. The event was held on April 11, 2017, starting at 9am to 11am at the multi-function hall of the school’s chapel.
Indiah Marsaban (MBA ‘ 90) and Andries Sibarani (MBA ‘94) were the speakers for
the event. The program was presented as an interactive workshop. We aimed to expose the students to visuals and activities that are expected to stimulate their empathy in using social media and to further develop their sense of responsibility as part of large “social media society”.
Tirtamarta Junior High School was selected as a “partner” for this program, since this school has good relations with one of the IU alumni and the school has positively responded to the o er to hold such event at their school. The target audience are students of the 7th and 8th grade.
YAIUI’s IU Day team received an appreciation from Tirtamarta’s Principal and faculty for the participation.
Both speakers introduced the principles of “Good Social Media Users”, in a relevant way to the “teenager’s world”. The risks and the consequences of using social media were also presented and discussed to reinforce the participants’ awareness on the hazards from irresponsible usage of social media and minimize the negative effects.
The 7th graders were the first to join the program, followed by the 8th graders in the next hour. Students from both grades responded very positively as both speakers made their points about positive usage of social media.
During the end of each session, students were asked to sign a pledge on a banner, promising to use social media positively and to stop cyber-bullying among students.
Finally, we had a blast during this year’s IU Day because we decided to not only “have fun”, but instead we were giving back to our community, especially to our younger generations. Furthermore, our team has received invitations from different schools in Jakarta, Surabaya, and also in other cities for similar event. It proves that Hoosiers working together can create powerful impact in the community!