MANILA, Nov. 10, 2011?A priest urged young people to nurture their interpersonal relationship instead of spending time being glued to computers and the internet.
Fr. Conegundo Garganta, executive secretary of the Episcopal Commission on Youth said that young people must heed their parents’ reminders to observe proper discipline in the use of internet as a medium for social communication.
Although there are a lot of things that can be learned through the internet, effective communication skills is certainly not one of them, Garganta said.
The priest stressed that young people can learn more about the art of communication through interaction, by talking to an individual or a group.
“It is important that young people must see their contribution in nurturing an interpersonal relationship and the knowledge they can acquire by communicating with their families, in school, in the Church, in the society but don’t be glued in the internet alone,” Garganta added.
Internet facts revealed last week stated Filipinos are the 2nd heaviest Internet users in Southeast Asia. Basing on Nielsen Southeast Digital Consumer report, Philippines spend an average of 21.5 hours online per week.
Nielsen’s APMEA region research director Melanie Ingrey said in a statement that “the increasing availability and take-up of Internet-capable devices is driving usage of digital media across the region and bringing about considerable changes in the way media is consumed, in particular fueling multitasking behaviors among Southeast Asian consumers.”
E-mail remains the most popular activity in the Philippines with 90%, followed by Facebook as the dominant social networking site in the region, with 81% of digital consumers in the Philippines maintaining an active profile on the said website.
Other top social media sites include YouTube and Twitter.
The youth composed a bigger number of the population who are glued in using the internet as means for social communication. (Jandel Posion)
