Daily Tribune, Apr. 3, 2019, Alpha Generation.pdf

MANlrA pH[.tpptNEs I WEDNESDAY 3 ApRtL 2Ol9

AIpha generation (( PeopIe

simplA need

to

realiae th@t

technologg

isa tool

for

effwieiw, twant to unleash

the

potentlal to raise income @nd

improue the quahty

ofwof

Fillpinos,

As I have written in my past columns, I was privileged to be

irwited io the Boao Forum for Asia and be a member of the panel in the nYoung Leaders Roundtable: The 'Trapped' Atpha Ceneration," teleyised liye. on CCTV 2 channel in China. I shared the roundtable with 1l other young leaders from all over Asia, which included the

director of Chinese sci-ti blockbuster mov:e, the Wandering Earth, the

I

our daily liyes. can personally attest to the

such as arts, sports

benelits of technolog/: I learned how to play guitar primarily from

staple blue'collar job

and other co-cunicular activities. Coding is the of the Foufth Industrial Revolution, set to be as

downloading tab sheets

in the late '90s and I practically survived college and law

important as farmers,

factory workers and

office staff.

People simply need to realize

school doing research

online. However, the diYide between what QUO UADIS is physical realiw and Danen M. de Jesus

youngest Member of Parliament of Singapore, government'officials (some from their count es,foreign

virtual reality

ministries), uniyersity professors and

has basically taken oyer almost

businessrnen. Needless to say, I was in very good company ard giy€n thet there vere 12 of us in a gGminute session, I had to be Fecise and clear in my statements.

I

to share that the Philippines is one ,f the few was eager

countries that has no issues with its youth population. A quick Google search reveals ihai the philippines, median age is 26 and B0 porcent

of Filipinos are under the age of 16. This being so, we haye a ready supply of workers in our country a number of whom end w """rrli* and remit foreign cunbncies to our economy. We therefore expect a booming population of children from Alpha eeneration, or those born 2010 onward8, who will be digitally native, having been born into technologv and

the Internet,

My wife and I have a personal stake in this since both our kids are from the so-called Alpha Generation. In fact, our two-year old already knows how to operete an iphone, open the YouTtrbe app and pick

a.toy

unboxing" video to watch.

Indeed, technology has made younger generation smarter snd will continue to do so with how technology has been permeating

has

become more blurry as te€hnolosr every single thing that can be done physically.

((

-FoI -some of

the more s enio r

Children generations (ag. , baby nwst knou) boomers), technolosr tha,t theV

is rejected due to its

. disruptive nature, are the creatora or but the faci is that

,naaters of technolog/ could not technotro% be stopped. My take is something that we must accept technolos/ becoming thev can an intrinsic part of crealivelu humanity and for us tweak, to learn to create edit and, nmnipulate,

more

me

aningful

things n,ith the

utilization of technology.

I

have

always said that the Philippines is a content consumer country where Facebook can be accessed free even

wiihout a dsla plan thanks to the cable Facebook leid that traversed the Pacific Ocean. The effect is most kids now have an Amorican accont thanks to the videos th€y s€e on YouTube; some kids even havs

a British accent due to binging on Peppa Pig episodes, This bTings me

to my point dn the importance of teaching coding to children, alongside subjects

f

rN,,{c

that technolos/ is a tool for effciency, meant to

unleash the potential

to raise income and

improve tfte quality of life of Filipinos.

Soon enough, technologr cdn and

will replace whitecollar "jobs, such as accountants and lawyers (gasp).

Encouraging children t0 leaur codirg is a 'way hr the Philippines to get out ofthis

hap ofbeing mere cont€nt mnsumers, By rvay of ana.los/, we c'an see how

Filipinos have consumed Western music with how passionate w€ fue

with karaoke. our talent to sing songs written by other people, almost exactly the;ame way it was sung by the artist, is known worldwide and I have lost count of Filipino winners in foreign singing competitions on TV This has led to a decline t0 Filipino nusic writing, since ve have accepted that we are mere consumers, rati€r imitatorc, of Western songs.

Simply put, \rvhile we must teach our children the proper and ethical use of technology, it must not be with a mindset that they are mere consumers, Children must know that they are th€ creators or masters of technology, something they can creatively tweak, edit and manipulate. And if this car be done with the Alpha Generation of our country they will be our best bet to attain First World country status, E rwtl.

-.r t}

daneh dqj is"

.c @ d qj eMA

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