Response to “Your Igloo or Mine?”

Click here to proceed to article

After reading this article, I was appalled by the shocking statistics that were stated. A whopping 28.5 million kids are logging onto social networking sites - and that figure is only representative of the United States. This is because the target audience of these social networking websites is kids; hence, there are many features on the site that would capture the attention of such kids. This shows that kids could be neglecting responsibilities in the non-virtual world. This could be detrimental as it would affect the future of our society.

Firstly, is it a healthy behavior for kids to be logging onto social networking websites? Yes, there may be filters on the site which disallow unhealthy content such as vulgarity, but the internet is so huge that it can hardly be considered a safe and controlled environment. Exposure of such material could change the lives of kids forever. This is because images such as nudity can be easily etched onto the minds of these children. Furthermore, due to curiosity, these preteens could search for pornography or other undesirable materials after being exposed to it, and all these negative influences could ruin their future.

What I find disturbing is that these social networking websites are targeting children as their main audience. The marketing of these websites is certainly a lucrative market, but shouldn’t the people behind these websites spare a thought for the younger generation and analyze the consequences of these children logging onto them? This I feel, is a question of ethics. The people who run these social network websites are actually aware of the consequences, but being money-minded, they would rather attract preteens to the websites, knowing that at a young age, they are easily manipulated and can succumb to peer pressure.

However, we should not just blatantly push the blame onto social networking websites alone. Proper parenting skills are needed to ensure that children do not frequently log on to such websites. For example, understanding the concept behind such websites and placing the computer in a public area such as the living room would be a good start. Parents should also talk to their children about unhealthy materials on the internet and advise their children how to stay away from them. One thing parents should keep in mind that is that it is never too early to talk to your children about these topics, for prevention is better than cure.

Response to ‘Are more kids having sex?’

Click here to proceed to article

It was very disturbing to find out a girl could get pregnant at such a young age. I remember that when I was nine, my world still revolved around cartoons and action figures. Yet here is a girl who has undergone sexual intercourse when she should be playing with Barbie dolls and stickers. This highlights a major problem in our society which is mainly sex education and parenting skills.

In Singapore, sex education starts at secondary one, when children are thirteen year old. However, I believe that it is too late to start at secondary one. I believe that the earlier sex education starts, the more aware these children would be about sexual behavior. Hence, they can better protect themselves and understand the consequences of having unprotected sex or premarital sex. Therefore, I propose that sex education should start at the age of nine instead of thirteen.

Really, how on earth did a nine year old girl get pregnant? Speedy maturity? No. Bad parenting skills? I think so. Parents should be more aware of the actions of their children and monitor their activities. They must be aware of what their children are exposed to, some simple checks such as observing what kind of television programs they watch and what websites they log onto can be enough to detect any problems. Not only schools should play a part in sex education, parents should too. Talking to your child about sex should not be viewed as ‘absurd’ as it is currently is in Singapore. It would be too late to regret it when your child lands himself/ herself in trouble.

The media is also a major influence on the sexual behavior of young children these days. Due to the universal fact that ‘sex sells’, the media is constantly capitalizing on that fact to attract viewers. However, the media’s portrayal of sex is meant for adults, hence, if children are exposed to such material, the fault should lie with their parents.

All in all, if parents and schools hold back sex education and treat sex as a taboo topic, the consequences would be catastrophic. Love should come before sex and not the other way round.