Following similar programs that were held in Jakarta and Surabaya, Yayasan Alumni IU Indonesia again held a workshop for high school students in Bandung on 27-28 September 2017 with the theme “Social Media for Social Good”. The program was aimed to ‘educate’ teenagers to become responsible users of social media and enhance their understanding of “netiquette” which is expected to minimize the negative consequences of irresponsible usage of social media.
This program was presented as an interactive two- hour workshop for junior and senior high school students in Bandung facilitated by IU Alumni. The participants were exposed to visuals and activities to stimulate their empathy in using social media and further develop their sense of responsibility as part of a large “cyber society”. The principles of “Good Social Media Users” were introduced particularly those relevant to the “teenager’s world”.
At the end of the session, the participants were asked to sign a large banner as a pledge to become sensible users of social media. In addition, selected students, in groups of 5-10, were given a chance to create a one-minute video (devices were loaned to them) that would present the students’ “interpretation” of the workshop and this video could be uploaded in certain social media to disseminate the message to a wider audience.
The schools in Bandung that were involved: SMK Pasundan 1 (110 students), SMP Negeri 3 Lembang (100 students) and SMA Negeri 2 Bandung (100 students).
These schools were selected with the assistance from Ms. Senny Alwasilah (Dean, Faculty of Language and Art, Universitas Pasundan) as she had access to the management of these schools.
The three main risks and unintended consequences that were discussed in the workshop included:
Addiction to social media - Invasion of privacy
Cyberbullying
As a whole, the responses from the students were positive and most of them were quite enthusiastic in following the workshop. The teachers also admitted that the usage of social media was one of their concern that needed attention and therefore, such workshops on social media usage is highly appreciated. It is apparent that education programs that feature the risks of social network sites can be effective in enhancing awareness about these risks, although it does not necessarily have immediate impact on changing online safety behavior of the children. Nevertheless, the trend for teaching responsible social media usage has become even more essential nowadays.
Indiah Marsaban, MBA 2004
Andries Sibarani, IU South Bend 2003
Anne Julieta Andarawari, Economics 1994