Tribune News Network
Doha
Exposure to global media and content shapes young people’s worldview, but also potentially dilutes their own cultural attachment. Dr. Clovis Bergère, assistant director for Research at the Institute for Advanced Study in the Global South at Northwestern University in Qatar, a Qatar Foundation partner university, explained that cultural identity and young people’s sense of who they are reflects the technological, cultural, political, and material environment of the times.
“We are living through a unique moment of mediation today, due to the availability and wide use of digital technology by young people that serve to both strengthen and undermine cultural ties,” Dr. Bergère explained.
Dr. Bergère stressed the importance of designing and promoting technologies that encourage multilinguism rather than monolinguism. Language plays a crucial role in how youth consume and are affected by content online.
“Computers and digital technologies can support scripts on most languages across the world, yet English and a few other languages continue to dominate much of the internet,” he said.
Dr. Mahmoud Husni, national subject lead at Qatar Academy Sidra, a Pre-University School at Qatar Foundation (QF), has seen firsthand the influence that monolingualism in digital technologies have on young people’s cultural attachment.
According to him, “Young people have become so accustomed to English in media, technology, and online platforms, they lose their desire to speak Arabic or their native tongue.”
For his part as an educator, Dr. Husni uses technology to promote his subject matter.
“Electronic learning platforms that contain cultural and heritage content that reflect the values and traditions of the community help Arab youth better understand and engage in their culture and inherited customs,” he said. “This will help them relate their own traditions and values to balance with the traditions of other peoples that they may be exposed to elsewhere.”
Dr. Azza O. Abdelmoneium, a family research expert at the Doha International Family Institute (DIFI), a member of QF, cites parental involvement as key to cultural preservation.“Parents should be aware of their children’s activities and what they are consuming online. It is their role to talk to their children about what they see and hear on the internet to promote their development as critical thinkers and to put things into cultural context that align with the values and beliefs in their home.”
Citing a DIFI report published in collaboration with researchers from the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) and QF’s Hamad Bin Khalifa University,Dr. Abdelmoneium explained the importance of parental mediation. She emphasized how parents approach adolescents’ technology use is crucial to successful intervention.
The study showed that taking away devices was found to be an ineffective strategy to control media consumption. The children in the study also indicated that threatening or preaching to them about the content they consume was also ineffective; adolescents preferred a dialogue rather than a monologue when communicating with their parents about their use of technology.
“A successful intervention method to avoid technology misuse and overuse by parents is to create quality time for families and friends,” said Dr. Abdelmoneium.“Family engagement, where parents and children are spending time together to discuss and debate online content consumption, can increase understanding and strengthen family bonds and ties to their culture heritage. Parental involvement is essential to balance online exposure of global perspectives with cultural values and beliefs.”
