DAMMAM, 13 January — The Internet is now a great influence on human behavior and relationships. Its influence can also be viewed as a changing pattern in middle class social values. Great exposure to the Internet and an opportunity to communicate with other people in other societies has led to this tremendous alteration in social values.
Less than a decade ago, Indian or Pakistani teenagers in a small town were quite ignorant of a great deal going on in the world. Their surroundings were their world and beyond that world, they had little awareness. Western cultural values were viewed suspiciously but once people got on the Net and began to communicate with those in other countries, many myths were dispelled and misunderstandings cleared up.
Meher, a 24-year-old Indian girl, agrees that chatrooms have provided her with both knowledge and information. "I had never dealt with males outside my family, even at university. The Internet, however, helped me to break the ice and today I can talk confidently to males without embarrassment."
Kashish, a 23-year-old from Karachi, belongs to a conservative family but she is a frequent visitor to chatrooms. "There is no contradiction between my religious values and the modern thoughts which I have found on the Net. I strictly adhere to my religious values but I have discarded many irrelevant things which have no religious basis," she said. "The Internet has provided me with a total new perception of the world. It is a new world, something I had never dreamt of. There is no denying that chatrooms can present many negative aspects and even touches of obscenity and vulgarity, but it is our responsibility to accept what is right and reject the rest."
A pretty girl in the Iranian city of Isfahan is very excited about her forthcoming studies in London. "Just a few years ago, it would have been beyond my imagination. The Internet helped my parents to agree that I could go to UK to study urban planning," said Kimiya. A keen devotee of Yahoo chatrooms, she says that what she has learned has helped her immensely. "I got a lot of exposure to the world through my conversations in chatrooms," she said.
Dina, an Egyptian teenager from Alexandria, thinks the Internet is the best thing that could have happened to the younger generation. "To those who come from a closed society, the Internet has proven itself a boon. It helped us to enter the world without compromising our religious and social values." She admits that initially her parents opposed her using the Internet but that has changed. "Today even my mom is a keen chatter on MSN," Dina said jokingly.
Aliya, a mother of four, is an Alkhobar housewife from Lebanon. She admits that initially she was wary of the Internet and did not want her eldest daughter, now 17, to use the Net. Some friends, however, convinced her of the Internet’s advantages and she changed her mind. She adds, "I keep an eye on her and make sure that she does not visit objectionable websites."
Many parents from Third World countries agree that the Internet is here to stay and it is not possible to ban it. Jehan, an Egyptian mother, asks, "Why should we deny our children access to a world beyond our society? Exposure is good for their development and helps them mature." She believes that modern values, blended with her cultural and religious values, will contribute significantly and advantageously to her children’s personality development. "And the Internet is the best way of exposure to modern values without making compromises on our cultural heritage," she said.
It is necessary and right to encourage children to explore the cyberworld; however, parental guidance is required in order to guide and direct the young minds in the right way.
