The Internet- to use or not to use?

By Doreen Allotey


In recent times, concerns have been raised about the negative impact of the Internet on our youth. This has been occasioned by the upsurge of cyber fraud and its associated links with occultism, known in local parlance as Sakawa. Clearly, the issue of Internet fraud is neither peculiar to Ghana nor is it a new phenomenon. Internet fraud is perhaps as old as the Internet itself and obviously more pronounced in societies where Internet penetration is higher than what pertains in our part of the world.
What is disturbing and therefore requires some reflection is the fact that the problem is quite new in our country, the realisation that it is the youth who seem involved and most importantly, its alleged links to occultism.
Stories are told of how some boys and girls go through gruesome rituals, ranging from passing the night in cemeteries, sleeping in coffins, drinking human blood, not taking their bath and skipping sleep at night, as part of the rituals associated with the practice. Their motivation? To get rich quick!
Some newspaper reports claim that school attendance in certain areas have suffered as boys and girls troop to cybercafés, ostensibly to try their luck to become rich overnight. Needless to emphasise, the effect of such activity on education is obvious. Any society which sits unconcerned while its future leaders dabble in such dangerous activities must be courting trouble for itself. It is for these reasons that attempts by political leadership, as well as responsible individuals and institutions, to nip this embarrassing and dangerous practice in the bud must be encouraged.
Yet, in doing this, it is important that we draw a clear line between the irresponsible and negative use of the Internet and its potential to facilitate our individual and collective development as Ghanaians.
The Internet is like a double-edged sword. It has been proven in almost all ICT-driven societies that when well used, the Internet can accelerate national development. It is also a fact that it could derail our development aspirations. A typical case in point is the Sakawa menace we are presently grappling with.
For instance, the impact of the Internet on young minds, especially children, can be counter-productive if not well monitored. Some of its potentially negative effects could involve the amount of time child users devote to it at the expense of their academic work. Again, browsing the net entails some cost and in our part of the world, where cost of accessing the net is high and most family incomes are low, this could put undue stress on already financially-challenged families.
Also, the Internet provides a lot of information which may not be suitable for the consumption of young people. In this regard what readily comes to mind include pornographic sites, as well as others where some religious or ideological doctrines could be accessed. Indeed, evidence abounds to suggest that the Internet has been used and continues to be used to facilitate terrorist activities— as a medium for recruiting potential terrorists as well as for the propagation of terrorist/negative messages, for instance.
It should also be borne in mind that children could become addicted to browsing the net after protracted use, at the expense of their normal educational and recreational activities. Once they get hooked, they will rather sit behind the net than read their books or play hop-scotch or fly a kite! Related to this, medical research findings have identified excessive use of the Internet as one of the leading causes of child obesity and its attendant health problems.

Not withstanding the above, the Internet offers several positives for our society.
For instance, the Internet holds the largest amount of information “under one roof”. For students and other knowledge seekers, it offers an invaluable source of information and knowledge. This should be welcome news, especially in our case where library facilities are inadequate. And most of the material in our libraires is dated. Some of the problems with some information on the Internet has to do with the credibility of sources.
Through the Internet people, who, due to the exigencies of work, could not have pursued further education, are now acquiring knowledge and certificates through distance education. The Open University concept, virtual offices, electronic library and others owe their existence to ICT in general and the Internet in particular. The Internet is also making it possible for professionals to trade ideas with their colleagues in far away places. For instance, lawyers, architects, doctors and bankers can all share and exchange professional knowledge with their peers via the net.
E-commerce, which makes it possible for parties to transact businesses irrespective of geographic distances, is a brainchild of the Internet. Not only has e-commerce cut down on the cost and time of transacting business but has also increased the volume of international trade to an all-time high. Today, thanks to the Internet, it is possible to sit in Ghana and buy a car from Japan and get it delivered to you at a destination of your choice.
Also, the Internet remains a key medium in facilitating globalisation, global harmony and peace, as through it, people from diverse backgrounds and in different geographical locations can interact and get to know and appreciate each other’s culture better. The Internet has the ability to carry us far into some foreign land providing us with pictures and information about that land and its people. Related to this, is its huge potential as an advertising tool.
Its socialisation potential is evidenced by the large number of people who log on to chat rooms on a daily basis. In some cases, individuals have not only found friends but life partners.

It is in the light of the above that any attempt to demonise the Internet and discourage its use would be most disingenuous and unfortunate on our part. In fact, such an attempt will only be akin to throwing away the proverbial baby with the bathtub.

First , it is crucial that we identify Sakawa as essentially a socio-economic problem and a collective failure on our part as parents, rather than a technological one. There is the urgent need to step up parental/adult supervision and possibly also devise some workable regulation to sanitise the use of the Internet.
For without any shred of doubt, the Internet remains one of mankind’s best inventions in recent decades and has definitely come to stay. We, as a people, therefore, have to sensibly tap into it for our individual and collective development. Clearly, we have no other choice.