The development of information and communication technology brought great impacts on life, both positive and negative. This is also felt by the people of Debululik village, South Lamaknen District, Belu regency, NTT Province, a village at the border between Indonesia and Timor Leste. Before internet and computer reached this area, the people used typewriters if they wanted to type letters, and when the typewriter was broken, they must go to town to write letters. It took a long time because the trip from village to town was about two hours, and this meant takes over time for doing other activities. If parents wanted to inform their children in town, they wrote and sent the letter at the post office because there was no internet and communication network. So, there was a time lag for the message to be conveyed from parents to their children. If students who study in town ran out of money for daily food or something urgent, their news took several days to reach their parents, because the process of sending letters through post office took time. The junior and senior high school children usually study in Atambua, while the university students mostly study in Yogyakarta, and some others in Kefamenanu, Kupang, Bali, Jakarta and Malang.
The recent situation is different from the past, if parents want to type or exchange news with their children living outside the town, they can contact them directly from their home because of the avaliability of communication network, even they both can communicate more quickly through Whatsapp and Facebook. For those who do not have internet or want to type letters but have no laptop or computer, they can come to village office because those appliances are available for free.
The
people now also use cyberspace as means of making money. They do business from
home and take advantage of social media to sell electricity pre-paid, airplane
tickets and other online sales. When the communication network and internet
were not available, people had to bring their crops or harvests to the market
or wait for the middleman come to their villages.
During pandemic, some parents asked the children who study in town to return to their village for safety and for other reasons, so some junior and high school students returned home, although some others chose to stay because they are in the last semester or because of communication network reason. My village has highest number of students in South Lamaknen district because the people there are concern to send their children to study. Even though they returned to their village they could join the learning during the pandemic because it was done online.
The
internet also brought negative impact when some children cheated their parents
by reason of school needs and other reasons, but they bought internet data
package not for study. Worse, many youth spent their spare time to play online
games, instead helping their parents to cultivate the fields or to do other
works. Next, the virtual world greatly influences youths in fashion style so
that they competes each other wearing the latest clothes style, eventhough with
the counterfeit trade mark clothes.
It
should be realized that internet has both positive benefits and negative
impacts on social life. It all depends on how it is used. This is what I learn
when I return to my hometown after finishing my college in Yogyakarta. I can
use technology development in a good way and help people, especially children
in my village, to be smart in using the internet, especially for learning.***
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