The Role of Family In Teenager's Character Building in The Digital Era

• INTRODUCTION

A proverb once said, "Too many adults wish to 'protect' teenagers when they should be stimulating them to read of life as it is lived". As we know in this modern society, digitalization is happening faster than it ever was before, But we as a society haven't been able to comprehend it. 

As humans there are two things that help us shape our way of thinking and set our life's principles, those things are nurture and nature. Nature causes are hereditary. But on the other hand, Nurture is non-hereditary. Many of us teenagers, affected by these causes by lack of nurturing, especially from family members, can cause many negative consequences for us as teenagers.

Teenage is a stage of life where people experience many new things and we have to adapt as fast as we can to become a grown adult. But the reality is teenagers are fragile, they may be prepared physically, but mentally we are still a liability. Especially in this Digital era where information is shared at a very fast pace and teenagers often cannot process it well because of lack of guidance and nurture. Because of that, Family roles are very important to shape the mental growth of teenagers.

THE IMPORTANCE OF FAMILY IN TEENAGER DEVELOPMENT

Family roles in the development of teenagers are significant. Family is the first vessel and in general, the closest people for a teenager is their family. In family, the role of mother and father is the most important ones, because a wise, kind, and approachable parents are one of the main factor for teenagers development, Both parents have a major role on how their teenage child behavior, moral, and etiquette going to be when they are a full-grown adults. 

Especially in this Digital era where a teenager can get a lot of information from their gadgets. Through gadgets, teenagers can get some benefits from it, but many risks are prominent, such as hoaxes, brainwashing news, cyberbullying, and radical ideologies that teenagers can be affected by. 

POSSIBLE ACTIONS THAT FAMILY ROLE CAN MAKE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF TEENAGER

Because of that, Parents and families in general have to be aware of these threats that can harm their teenage kids. A sense of knowledge and understanding of technology that are being used by teengares are necessary to prevent the bad effects of digitalization.

- Suggestion such as family needs to give guidance to their teenage kid to be aware and understand the risk and the consequences that can be harmful to them if they don't use it wisely. Through constant reminders by both parents to their teenage child about the risk and consequences by not using gadgets and technology wisely.

- Another suggestion is that families need to motivate their teenage family members to use the internet in a positive way, installing positive applications such as studying apps can really help them to see gadgets as a tool to create, and learn many positive things and pour their creativity through it.

- Last suggestion is to try to connect and understand and prevent their teenage family members from feeling indoctrinated by unhealthy and bad influences presented by globalization through regular weekly family time and talking sessions.

CLOSING

Saying all of that, The role of Family and especially both parents in this Digital Era are the key to teenagers ' healthy development. Without the support of family members, teenagers are a blank space, they might look mature physically, but mentally they are still fragile and in need of extra guidance, especially in this Digital Era where information is being shared with just a touch of a smartphone. Teenagers nowadays are facing extra problems that are not present in earlier generations such as cyberbullying. A good family member needs to understand these "teenage problems" and nurture or serve as a vessel or clairvoyance for their teenagers to face the "real world" that they have to face when they become full grown adults. Understanding the real constraints that teenagers face in the digital world is the main key towards finding many strategies that family and both parents can use to maximize opportunities and minimize risks of digitalization.

This Article is written originally by the author/ Artikel ini merupakan karya tulisan penulis pribadi.