Holy Cross College National Service Training Program (NSTP) partnered with Pinas Forward a nation-building organization for a webinar emphasizing the power of youth voice in the elections and raising awareness on information consumption on the internet.
The webinar entitled Digital Citizenship was attended by more than 400 students from the school with a heart last March 24.
Pinas Forward is a non-profit organization who conducts training and information campaigns to empower the youth through transformational leadership. Jeff Richard Segumalian, field administrator of the movement discussed the importance of being a keen voter and choosing the right leaders for society.
Segumalian mentioned that leader is different from a boss or an officer. He explained that leaders are entrusted to guide the future of their constituents and as a democratic country every eligible citizen has the right to choose for that leader.
In Pampanga, there are 1,372,344 registered voters as of December 2020 based on the Provincial Election Office. In the 2019 midterm elections, there is 77.51% voter turnout which means that only 1.1 million cast their votes out of 1.4 million registered voters.
“So, as we all stay indoors, Pinas Forward aims to provide you with webinars that will discuss the attendees’ capabilities in community engagement by learning about their leadership capabilities (Tatak Pinuno) and how they can use them either by doing nation-building/community engagement through the use of social media (Digital Citizenship) or within their actual community (PF Connect). It aims to equip them with the right mindset as well as the appreciation of their means and capabilities to divert their efforts for the betterment of our nation,” Ground Operations Head, June Joson said in a letter.
Pinas Forward urged students to register and cast their votes on the upcoming 2022 Presidential Elections. The movement emphasized that every vote matters and challenge students to raise awareness on social media by using the hashtag #PIPILIAKOBECAUSE.
HCC-NSTP Coordinator Arlene Ocampo said globalization reaches the pinnacle of its evolution and as technological diffusion spread within and across nations with unbelievable speed, human beings are now embracing the concept of “the digital culture”.
“I found educating our learners to the importance of Digital Citizenship (A topic that was well explained by the recently concluded webinar with PINAS FORWARD) to be vital. It is imperative that our learners must have a clear knowledge of “Good and Bad Digital Citizenship” in order to help students on how to engage and connect with one another, empathize with each other, and create lasting relationships through digital tools while educating them with the effects of cyberbullying and irresponsible social media usage as well,” Ocampo said.
During the pandemic, HCC and Pinas Forward are also aware of disinformation or dissemination of false information across the internet.
Pinas Forward Project Manager Christine Pambuan discussed information consumption on social networks. She described it as “The Online Treasure Hunt” as users or consumers of information are struggling to comprehend everything they see online. Through millions of online content, a different version of ‘Truth’ is released to the audience making it more difficult to understand the issues and society.
The webinar also tackles the importance of information verification or fact-checking. Studies have shown that spread of disinformation or also known as fake news affected elections in the United States and the Philippines.
Ocampo also mentioned that responsible digital citizenship is not just a task for student but also for educators and every online consumer.
“The relationship between humans and technology is inevitable that is why we have to ready the future generation to be individuals who have developed the skills and knowledge to effectively use the internet and digital technologies, who uses digital technologies and the internet in a responsible and appropriate way in order to engage and participate in the society. A truly responsible “digital citizen,” she said.