frequent cybercafés

Letter to Editor

A group of parents wrote to me recently expressing their concern over addiction to cyber-fantasy by many youngsters who frequent cybercafés to play computer games.

More and more youngsters frequent cybercafés to play games on the excuse of relaxation or taking a break from the pressure of school lessons and tuition.

According to the parents, instead of drugs these youngsters get addicted to cyber games.

Not long ago, it was widely reported in the media that primary and secondary school students in school uniform were found in certain cybercafés in Kuala Lumpur and in Ipoh following checks conducted by the Education Department.

This is the reality today. More and more young people are getting addicted to cyber-fantasy. And this is a problem that the schools, parents and the authorities concerned have to deal with.

There is nothing wrong playing computer games to relax but this should be done in moderation. Any form of addiction is not good particularly for students who have to study and sit for examinations.

What will be most undesirable is when addiction to computer games leads to gambling as this will be the root cause to many evils.

Electronic gambling must not be allowed and our youngsters must not get involved.

While I am not against cybercafés, regulations governing them, especially over their location and enforcement must be tightened in order to avoid social ills emanating from such places.

How is it that operators of such cybercafés allow students into their premises when the notice on the door clearly stipulate that students in uniform should stay out.

Cybercafés are mushrooming all over the country and local authorities which issue licenses to these operators are not able to monitor the social implications arising from these operations.

To expect the cybercafé operators to be ethical and self-regulate to prevent those under 18 from patronizing these cybercafés is well nigh impossible taking into account their pecuniary interests.

All local authorities should ensure that cybercafés operators comply with the conditions of the licences such as operating within reasonable hours and not allowing the underaged.

Cybercafés should not be located close to schools and institutions of learning.

While we welcome the ICT Age, we must also ensure that the young generation will be protected from the negative influence that information technology bring about.

With the emergence of the smart learning environment acquiring knowledge and information must be done with adequate moral education.

While we need to produce intelligent and computer savvy workers in this ICT age, this should be achieved without sacrificing or ignoring the need to inculcate noble and moral values.

With the advent of borderless information more stress must be given to the inculcation of moral values in education so as to prevent the emergence of more computer crimes.