On April 21, 2023 in the National Memorial Complex “Memorial Cathedral in Honour of All Saints and in Memory of the Victims, who fell to rescue our Fatherland” there was held an international round table discussion “Children online. Counter measures against destructive influence of info environment on a person”.
The initiative of the discussion came from Belarusian Orthodox Church and Charitable Foundation for Support of Family, Motherhood and Childhood “Pokrov” supported by Ministry of Information of the Republic of Belarus. Metropolitan of Minsk and Zaslavl Veniamin, Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus, Deputy Minister of Information of the Republic of Belarus Igor Buzovskiy, Deputy Minsiter of Education Alexander Kadlubai, Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Welfare of the Republic of Belarus Valeriy Kovalkov, Deputy Chairman of the Standing Commission on Human Rights, Ethnic Relations and Mass Media Lilia Ananich, Chairman of the BOC Synodal Department for Cooperation with Secular Educational Institutions Archpriest Fyodor Povniy, Chairman of the BOC Synodal Information Department Archpriest Igor Vasko, Chairman of the Board of the Charitable Foundation for Support of the Family, Motherhood and Childhood "Pokrov" Andrei Zubenko, Member of the Commission of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union of Belarus and Russia on Information Policy, Information Technologies and Communications Margarita Pavlova, Head of the Main Department for Combating Cybercrime of the Criminal Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs regulation and trade Inna Gavrilchik, Chairman of the Board of the non-governmental organization "Belarusian Union of Journalists", General Director of the unitary enterprise "Agentstvo "Minsk-Novosti" Andrey Krivosheev, coordinator of the Committee on Information Security of the Family of the Union of Citizens and Organizations Protecting the Family, Fatherhood, Motherhood and Childhood “Parents' Chamber” of the Russian Federation Andrey Afanasyev, Member of the Board of the Charitable Foundation for the Support of Family, Motherhood and Childhood "Pokrov" Kristina Novoselova and other interested persons participated in the discussion.
Metropolitan of Minsk and Zaslavl Veniamin, Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus noted that today like never before being in information environment a person should be able, as the Gospel says, to know the difference between the weeds and the wheat. Far from everybody can do that successfully, particularly children, who due to age absorb like a sponge both good and evil. A child has no life experience that could help him or her to realize whether the available online content is useful or harmful. The situation is aggravated by the fact that the digital world is incredibly changeable. In fact, some new trend, technology, service appear every month. Often this new thing gains popularity very quickly, and children, due to the inquisitiveness of their minds, often grasp it faster than adults.
“It should be noted that often the cause of children's Internet addiction is, oddly enough, their parents. Immersed in worldly concerns, they often refer to the lack of strength and time to educate their children. Instead, a child can be given a smartphone in his hands, and he will quietly peer at the screen for hours without creating problems for his parents with his questions and requests. It is this kind of behavior on the part of the parents that presents the greatest temptation for the child,” Metropolitan Veniamin noted.
“That is why a strong family tradition built on a spiritual foundation is important today. If the life of a particular family is filled with a wide variety of good events, then the child has neither the time nor the desire to spend these happy moments sitting in front of the screen of the gadget,” the archpastor noted. “But, of course, the state, represented by the media, educational institutions, internal affairs bodies, all the healthy forces of society, should participate in this matter.”
Information from Official Portal of BOC Church.by
