When the youngest in our family was growing up, the Internet had just
started up here in the country. I do remember having to listen to the
whistling handshake of older modems as connection was established.
However, what did that mean to our youngest sister? Surprisingly, when
she was around twelve, we let her have access to the Internet, and I am
glad to say that she is more or less well-adjusted, if not savvy about
online concerns.
However, it’s important to note that before she went online, she was
immersed in a family that encouraged reading (she still has her library,
as do I), and that we were also very much involved in making sure that
if she did watch movies, we would be there with her (for the most part).
Thus, she has developed a healthy appetite for good movies… and
outstandingly whacky B-movies as well.
The key, in retrospect, with how my sister was prepared for the
Internet was that we had already been preparing her somehow through the
way we introduced literature to her, and that also, thanks to how
history turned out… there was no chance for her to be exposed to the
Internet at a younger age.
Read more at the Philippine Online Chronicles
Photo: “Instagram and Other Social Media Apps” by Jason Howie, c/o Flickr.com
