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Monday, September 12, 2005
Editorial: Game plan
A move to block Internet cafes and gaming joints from treating students as fair game is being reinforced by the Cebu City Council.
As reported by Sun.Star Cebu’s Linette C. Ramos, the Cebu City Council has scheduled for final deliberation and approval the amendments proposed by City Councilor Arsenio Pacana of City Ordinance 1901.
The Cebu City Council committee on laws has already agreed with the proposal, which implies stricter enforcement of “The Internet Café, Joint, Station, Center or Similar Business Ordinance of Cebu City.”
If approved, this and two other ordinances will prohibit elementary and high school students from entering Internet cafes, billiard and pool halls, and other establishments offering video games during school hours.
Exemptions will only be given if a student presents a written approval from school officials, stipulating that computer time will only be for research or a school-related purpose. Stiffer penalties await establishments found violating these ordinances.
If approved by the Cebu City Council, will the three ordinances succeed in curtailing school truancy and delinquency “wrought by high-technology devices?”
Psy-war
Many people assume that, with problems involving technology, the device is the least of the problem.
Not quite, believes Olivia Tiambeng of Banilad Elementary School (BES). This public school teacher told Sun.Star Cebu last February that educators can use computer-aided learning to combat the gaming fixation in a bid to win the battle over the hearts and minds of the youth.
Tiambeng is the BES home economics teacher, guidance counselor and computer laboratory coordinator.
She has granted innumerable students’ requests to work with computers after class. This is evidence, she believed, that not much external motivation is needed to harness computers for learning, given the students’ interest, willingness and adeptness to master the new medium.
Tiambeng intersperses basic literacy lessons with exercises in making greeting cards and letterheads. Vocabulary is strengthened by inventing and solving crossword puzzles and rhymes. The BES computer resources include interactive learning modules, such as the Mavis Bacon program that uses car racing to teach typing skills.
Allies
Tiambeng reiterated an adage that it takes a village to raise a child. She acknowledged the support of the private sector in boosting the school’s limited resources to implement computer education classes that can compete with the best that Internet stations can offer.
The Aboitiz Group Foundation Inc. (AGFI) refurbished the school’s computer laboratory. New computer units donated by the foundation and the Mandaue Rotary Club-West have ensured hands-on learning by enabling two students to work at every station during classes.
But the critical factor for sustaining the Community-Assisted Computer Education Program is the Parents, Teachers and Community Association (PTCA). Tiambeng said that its receptiveness to computer-aided learning has enabled the computer lab to be run nearly as efficiently as an enterprise, despite the fact that some students lag in paying their P50 monthly lab fees.
The PTCA’s support has guaranteed funds for future repairs, as well as some new programs to meet the students’ need for novelty and stimulation. Night high school students can also use the computer lab on Saturdays.
Although teachers have worked without pay to meet the demand for extra enrichment time with computers, Tiambeng is realistic about their chances to compete with Internet cafes proliferating in the Banilad area. For only P5, a gaming addict can have 15 minutes of online fun.
She said the Barangay Council has informed local Internet stations not to allow students to get in during school time. However, Tiambeng believes that truancy should not be left only for barangay leaders and businessmen to solve.
This public school teacher admitted that she has lost count of the times she has walked in on a BES pupil and with the power of a prodding finger, got the student out of the café and back in class. She said PTCA members have done the same with others caught cutting classes in Internet stations.
Perhaps giving teeth to city ordinances can curb truancy. None though can rival the “persuasive diplomacy” practiced by the youths’ parents and mentors.
(September 11, 2005 issue)
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