THE DANGER OF PORNOGRAPHY

A teacher is suspected involved in obscene acts with his student. More unscrupulous, the act was recorded in the camera phone and, whether intentional or not spread among the students. Some time ago, the sordid scene in the world of education recorded in the mobile phone was only done between a student with a student. Now, seemingly unscrupulous act has infected the teachers.
There are two things to note in connection with the sin done by the teacher with the students. First, the role of media in the act of transmitting criminality to its viewers. Instead of giving information to the audience about the various criminal acts, criminal news broadcasted massively provide inspiration to others to do similar acts. You still remember the case of Ryan, the mutilation criminal from Jombang, East Java. Few days after reporting Ryan, we heard more mutilation cases in other places that also involved a homosexual. The immoral act case between teacher and his student that was published in several news media is certainly also inspired by media coverage before.
The second, the use of camera mobile phone at this time is very worrying. Camera mobile phone can be considered have bothered the privacy of someone. By using it as hidden camera, mobile phones can be used to record things that should not be enjoyed by other people. Therefore, the use of camera mobile phone, appears to be restricted immediately. If not in a broad scale, at least the restriction made in the education environment. Some States reported have also prohibited the use of camera mobile phone because the use of it has been violated private area.
The mobile phone is not the only cause on the deviant sexual act. Previously, the porno magazine accused as the cause of the problem. But now, with estimation that Internet users continue to grow each year, pornography is easier to be accessed. The burden of parents and teachers are now more serious. Moreover, when it is known that children and young people who addicted to pornography will have deviant behavior and intelligence capabilities. Pornography is a quite serious issue not only for parents and teachers but also the government.

INSIGNIFICANT DEVOTEE

Because beauty is adored and hunted by every person, then each person also wants to be beautiful. Because the intellect is welcomed by people, then each person also wants to be smart. Because the richness is praised by every person, then each person shall have a desire to be rich. Because the position means the glory, then each person dreams that they have position. All people hope that all praises are for them. So each person dreams to have beauty, intellectual, wealthy, and position.
No. It is not blamed for people if they true struggle to get it through the praiseworthy way. If people get it through the right way, through hard work, sacrifice, sweat and exhaustion, it is commendable. But if all of those are found through a shortcut, without hard work, and are applied within a few days or even a few hours only, it is blamed for the humanity. Not the glory.
I met a woman. Perfect beauty. She uses long hours resistant perfume. It can prevent perspiration odor. Fine clothes. Certainly expensive price. She wears the flashy jewelry. Her smile is sweet. When she talks to someone, she makes him proud. She was humble. Her steps are accompanied by smile. But all of those are done when she needs people, when she needs people in her surrounding areas, the ordinary people. While she no longer needs the people, she returns to her original mold. It is she who only wants to interact with her peer.
I meet a seemingly clever man. He wears simple clothes. He wears no special accessories. Ordinary man. But he is too silent. He speaks when it is necessary. It appears that he was an extraordinary thinker who worked hard with his brain for the mankind. He never interacts with the meatball seller, with a coolie, with the scavenger, his neighbors. If he spoke, he uses a language which is not understood by those people. That is why he does not talk. Not useful for him to speak the paltry. Just wasting time. His level is the scientific journals, the graduate-level lectures. What can be donated by a coolie for mankind? meatball seller only works for himself and his family. He, the cleverest, works for all people including the meatball seller. People of this rank are the noblest. No one knows if the Doctor forges his scientific work. He studied in only one semester university.
I had a talk with a fat man. Each time, his speaking topic is only about political issues. Problems of people. But he talks the most piercing when the discussion switched to his salary increasing. He wants one hundred million rupiah a month when the people who was wanted to be prosperous wrestle with hunger.
I get around my town and see the row of schools. The schools race to beautify themselves. They have high fences. Magnificent new buildings. At the board, written the words that show the standard of the school. National or international standard. Students, as well as teachers walk, drive with pride. Self determination as a bright future for the nation make a certain kind of aglow face.
From these schools, graduated beautiful women, intellectual man, and powerful politician. I do not know if I have to be ashamed or proud.

DEBATE CONTEST

Becoming an adjudicator in an english debate contest makes me aware. Two groups which are in the debate stage should explore the topic deeply and equip themselves with various valid data. If not, one of them will be the looser.

Comic for Education

Comic book is getting more popular nowadays. Children and also adults like reading it. Modern comic book was inadvertently born by two employees at the Eastern Color Printing Company who collected a number of popular newspaper comic strips and arranged them into a tabloid-sized magazine (Wright, 2001). Since 1933, the year when the two employees gave birth to the modern comic, comic has become more and more popular.
Music and film have been commonly used as media in learning process. But comic has not. Although comic is relished by many people of different ages, hundreds of people believe that comic is not good for children. Most comics, indeed, contain bad things that parents are worry if their children will imitate the bad attitude they find in them.
But then, many experiments show contrary view. According to Gene Yang (2003) comic has five strengths to use in education. Those strengths are:
1. Motivating
Hutchinson (1949) found as the result of his experiment that 74% of teachers surveyed found comics "helpful for motivation".
2. Visual
Sones (1944) noted that students of "low and middle intelligence levels" were especially helped by comics' visual quality.
3. Permanent
Using comic as learning media is much different with using film or animation. If students don’t understand a scene of a film or animation, they cannot repeat the unknown scene. But we can do this if we use comic.
4. Intermediary
Karl Koenke (1981) suggests that comics can lead students towards the discipline of reading, especially those who don't enjoy reading or have a fear of failure.
5. Popular
Timothy Morrison, Gregory Bryan, and George Chilcoat (2002) suggest that, by incorporating popular culture (comic, for instance) into the curriculum, teachers can bridge the separation many students feel between their lives in and out of school.
Comic can be an alternative media to learn English. Just try it.

IS RELIGION EDUCATION TOO THEORETIC?

Reading the news yesterday, the government of Yogyakarta to improve religious education that is considered too theoretical and focused on memorizing so it is not able to rectify the students’ moral, I mused. Is religion education really too theoretical, so it has no impact on the improvement of students' morals?
When I was a boy, and when I and my friends always learnt and slept in the mosque, we had been given a sermon by religious teachers that religious knowledge is compulsory for both men and women of Islam. The obligation is still valid since childhood until to be buried in the graveyard.
Our religious teachers also stated that the Prophet Muhammad was sent to edify. He gave the example of educating the first to his companions before he ordered them to act for the good. And, in this way, he successfully edify.
So, I think, if religion education currently is assessed as not able to edify because too focused on the memorizing, I do not concur. The teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, the teachings of morals are written in hadeeth, the hadeeth had been checked the authenticity by great ulama’. From the hadeeth Moslems learn to have a noble. The divine words by the Prophet is the source of noble character. Therefore, the hadeeth are indeed must be memorized so they can be embedded in the heart and can be implemented in the act. In addition, those hadeeth again can be taught to others. By memorizing and conveying the hadeeth, we act as if we are "mouthpieces" of the Prophet.
In accordance with my religious teachers who taught at the surau many years ago, according to my opinion, the reason of the students’ moral degradation is because they do not have role models of what have been taught to them. In the text, they get something that is ideal. However, in reality, they found the opposite. Therefore, they do not deem the teachings as a source of moral value but only as information. As a donkey hauling books written in them knowledge.
The best, students need to get an environment which they can follow in implementing the noble character. The environment where they live, their teachers, should be able to become a good example. Without that, although the method of learning is replaced with something that is considered the best, it is difficult to see significant improvements to the morals of our students.

TEACHER FOR THE JUNGLE CHILDREN

I knew her about five years ago from a shred of a newspaper. The picture told me that the thin girl teaching the jungle children was a tough and soft girl all at once. Now, although I am sure it is not her purpose, she becomes more popular. Certainly you know her.
Saur Marlina Manurung or famously known as Butet Manurung, a girl who was born on February 21st, 1972 in Jakarta is a scholar of anthropology and Indonesian literature of Padjadjaran University. Her intelligence of course can bring her to a good job. But that she is. She built SOKOLA RIMBA in 1999, in the jungle of Jambi, a school for the jungle children. According to her, anyone must get education, even children who live in the jungle.
She teaches the children reading, writing and counting. Her neighbors, except the children, are mosquitoes, frogs and the silent. But, “This is what I want. I like interacting with the nature. Moreover, I don’t look for money. I look for work.”
Go Butet, Go.

FREE EDUCATION

ARTIKEL PENDIDIKAN INDONESIA – How do you find about free education? Do you agree? Of course. As anything is expensive nowadays, free but quality guaranteed education must be expected by all residents. Here is good news for all of us. School tuition will be free of charge for students of elementary and secondary as of 2009.
This will be realized if government truly allocated 20 percent of its budget to education.
Just wait and see. We all hope this will be real.