Condongcatur Village Warns of the Dangers of Gadgets for Children in Their Golden Age
Sleman — The threat of digital technology disruption to children’s growth and development during their golden age has become a serious concern for education practitioners and local policymakers.
Recognizing the significant impact of gadget screen exposure on children’s brain and mental development, officials from Kalurahan Condongcatur have collaborated with early childhood institutions to strengthen educational guidelines on parenting practices for parents of students.
This was highlighted during the graduation ceremony for eight students of Satuan PAUD Sejenis (SPS) Asparagus Kentungan for the 2025/2026 academic year, held at Waroeng Makan Mbah Suro, Tiyasan, Kalurahan Condongcatur, Kapanewon/Depok District, Sleman Regency, on Monday (8/6/2026).
The event, conceptualized together with the Parents’ Meeting Group (KPO), was deliberately designed not merely as a standard graduation ceremony, but optimized as a platform to advocate for the prevention of gadget addiction among early childhood children.
Al Thouvik Sofisalam, Kamituwa (village official) of Kalurahan Condongcatur, reminded parents and guardians of the latent dangers of providing unsupervised access to gadgets to children under five years old.
Clinical evidence shows that dependence on gadget screens can reduce children’s social interaction skills, hinder language development, and cause motor delays.
“Parents must act wisely and firmly in limiting and granting access to gadgets for our children. Excessive and uncontrolled visual exposure to gadgets can directly disrupt brain development functions, reduce socialization abilities, hinder language development, and damage various other basic aspects of growth and development. Early childhood is a crucial and highly fundamental period for building the foundation of a child’s authentic character—it is not the time to let them get lost in digital screens,” said Al Thouvik Sofisalam.
Al Thouvik emphasized that fathers and mothers in the home serve as the primary role models whose behavior will be imitated raw by the child. When parents habitually hand over gadgets simply to calm a fussy child, that bad habit will be perceived by the child as something normal. He encouraged parents to adopt warm, circular communication methods using gentle language full of affection, without raising their voices or using harsh, commanding tones.
In line with this, Sih Ngatini, Supervisor of PAUD in Kapanewon Depok, underlined that the family institution is the first and most important educational laboratory for children. This early growth phase is a golden age that can never be repeated in the future, and therefore requires full parental attention and physical presence.
“Early childhood is a golden age that passes very quickly and will never repeat itself in a human lifetime. It is during this phase that a child’s character structure, emotional intelligence, and social skills are formed permanently. Therefore, our children greatly need real guidance, genuine attention, and real affection from their parents at home—not to be accompanied merely by an electronic caregiver in the form of a gadget,” explained Sih Ngatini, outlining the psychological dimensions of child development.
Meanwhile, Reni Lestari, Head of SPS Asparagus Kentungan, presented the profile of the educational institution she leads, located on Jalan Kaliurang Km 6.5 in Kentungan. The school currently has 18 active students, with a grand vision of building a generation of Indonesians who are polite, harmonious, independent, and respectful of diversity. Although it is not a formal inclusive school, the institution maintains a strong humanitarian commitment by providing friendly educational services for children with special needs (ABK).
“We always strive to deliver quality educational services that are not only focused on academic achievements or basic literacy and numeracy, but also place strong emphasis on personality development, personal independence, and children’s social skills. Synergy and full support from parents through the KPO platform is one of our main pillars of strength in realizing these noble goals, including in welcoming the enrollment of seven new students for the upcoming academic year, which demonstrates increasing public trust,” concluded Reni Lestari.
The graduation ceremony series was closed with deep emotion through a creative arts performance that showcased the students’ talents in movement and song. This was followed by the certificate presentation procession and a joint documentation session.
Through this integrated nurturing process, it is hoped that the alumni of SPS Asparagus Kentungan are well-prepared to advance to the kindergarten level, equipped with strong character, politeness, and good social resilience to face the challenges of the times.
