There is a prevailing ambiguity on how to regard children. They are sometimes regarded as subjects, such as in education, law or social relationships.
By
DEDY AFRIANTO/SUSANTI AGUSTINA S
·4 minutes read
Kompas/Bahana Patria Gupta
Children are taught how to wash their hands properly during a 2020 National Children\'s Day celebration with the theme, Protected Children, Advanced Indonesia. The event was organized and hosted by the Sidoarjo Police in the Pepelegi village hall, Waru district, Sidoarjo, East Java, on Wednesday (22/7/2020). The celebration was held under strict health protocols and featured children singing as well as information about COVID-19 and how to prevent it.
There is a prevailing ambiguity on how to regard children. They are sometimes regarded as subjects, such as in education, law or social relationships. However, children are oftentimes regarded as objects, such as in development policies.
Statistics Indonesia (BPS) records show that four out of 10 Indonesians are minors, or people under the age of 18 years. This demographic ratio is expected to last to 2025. This large child population must be accompanied with supporting infrastructure that regards children not only as objects, but also active subjects.
Major health support must be provided from an early age. Law No. 35/2014 on Child Protection defines children as all individuals under 18, including fetuses in utero. This means that providing adequate attention to pregnant women is the first step in protecting the development of future generations.
Plenty of work remains to be done in children’s health. Completing the immunization schedule for basic vaccines is the main weapon in creating healthy future generations, but it remains inaccessible to children in the regions.
In 2018, only 57.9 percent of children aged 12-23 months received their complete vaccine series. Special attention is needed on immunization coverage in regions such as Aceh and Papua, where less than a third of local children have been vaccinated.
Children playing saron at Saiman\'s house in Karangrau Village, Banyumas, Central Java, Sunday (7/7/2020).
Education
Another crucial sector that needs attention is education. If complete vaccination is the gateway to developing healthy generations, education is the gateway to developing quality generations.
Education is similar to complete vaccination in that it remains inaccessible to scores of children across Indonesia. The Education and Culture Ministry’s 2019 data recorded 157,166 elementary and middle school dropouts.
According to the 2018 national socioeconomic survey, household finance is the major factor behind 50.1 percent of children discontinuing their education. Some must quit school and work to help their parents.
Special attention must be paid to Sulawesi. Four of the 10 regions with the highest percentage of working minors in Indonesia are in Sulawesi: West Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi and South Sulawesi.
Mental health
The burden of guaranteeing children their right to education has only increased with the online learning policy as a measure for curbing Covid-19 transmission. Data at the Communications and Information Ministry shows that internet use has increased 40 percent during the health crisis.
Children are increasingly relying on the internet in their day-to-day activities, doing their homework, participating in online classes and taking extra online courses, as well as studying with their parents. This creates an extra layer of concern. A Kompas R&D survey illustrates the high level of public concern over children’s mental health, as they are susceptible to boredom, losing interest in learning and increased health risks due to minimal physical activity. People are also concerned about the risks to children through their exposure to negative content from prolonged and high internet use.
A student at Al-Bayan Islamic School, Tangerang City, Banten, doing the work of the teacher while studying at home (home learning), Tuesday (17/3/2020). School students in the Jabodetabek area and several other provinces in Indonesia must study at home following the government\'s policy to temporarily close schools in an effort to prevent the transmission of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Global cybersecurity company Kaspersky shows a sharp increase among Indonesian children in online communication in January-May 2020. The study used anonymous data collected by the Kaspersky Security Network on Indonesian users of its Kaspersky Safe Kids platform on both Windows and macOS.
The study showed that the highest level of online communication among Indonesian children was 31.55 percent in February, followed by 27.59 percent in March, 22.74 percent in May, 21.94 percent in January, and 17.77 percent in April.
Increased internet use among children requires guaranteed security to protect them from inappropriate content. Children must also be protected from potential cybercrimes that are no less terrifying than real-world crimes, including cyberbullying, sex crimes and fraud.
It is difficult to do provide character education, as [teachers and students] meet only virtually
Indonesian Teachers Association (IGI) chairman Muhammad Ramli Rahim said that education could have an adverse effect on children during the epidemic. They had a heavier study load, especially since not all teachers were capable of delivering quality and fun learning activities online. Moreover, certain educational aspects were irreplaceable through online learning, such as character development.
“It is difficult to do provide character education, as [teachers and students] meet only virtually,” he said.
The key is parental guidance. Constant communication between parents and children will help them understand what is going on in their daily lives.
Parental guidance involves more than just monitoring from a distance and discussing things. It means being present in the online world with their children and ensuring that they are surfing the internet safely. In this way will we be able to protect our children, the generation of the future for the world.
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