MXit (pronounced "mix it") is a mobile instant messaging application developed in South Africa that runs on GPRS/3G mobile phones with java support. It allows the user to send and receive text messages to and from PCs that are connected to the Internet and other phones running MXit. These messages are sent and received via the mobile Internet, rather than with standard SMS technology. The user can also exchange messages with online chat communities like MSN Messenger, ICQ, and Jabber. Messages are limited to 2 000 characters. Because messages are billed by the amount of data sent, they are much cheaper to send than traditional SMS messages. MXit claims to have a registered userbase of two million and about five million log-ons per day. The application is distributed internationally, but the bulk of its userbase are South African teenagers.
Tradepost is the MXit e-commerce store where users may purchase access to certain services and update Moola (the Mxit currency). One Moola is the equivalent of one South African cent. With 200 Moola, 100 messages can be sent in the chat rooms. The user does not pay Moola for normal Instant Messaging. Above paying Moola, the user is charged internet costs, according to his or her service provider.[the two paragraphs above courtesy of Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/]
Sounds amazing, doesn't it? And it is. Our young people are socialising and learning how to build contacts at a rate that we don't understand. They are staying in touch with people they deem to be important extremely effectively. They have an instant means of assuaging their thirst for social acceptance.
Then why are parents of teenagers (teenagers these days means anyone over 9) all over South Africa tearing their hair out as they lose what little they had of their teenagers to this cheap, instant, hand held, mobile, electronic socialising phenomenon? Getting your teenager to set the table, take out the garbage, feed the dog/cats or heaven forbid do homework has always been a challenging task. Today it's a war in many families! You will be told (often quite impatiently) that the e-conversation your teenager is having right now is very important and can't wait because the person they're chatting with may go offline - and you (parent) do not want to be nearby if this happens, if you value your sanity.
The limited quality time MXit teenagers spend with family members has undoubtedly diminished. The family is always there it seems, but has become even more unnoticed. Mom and Dad have dwindled in importance to unpaid and un-thanked providers of high quality services.
Many of us Boomer and early X Generation parents swore that the generation gap would not happen in our families. We would be far more understanding, we even listen to cool stuff like Eric Clapton, the Eagles, Genesis and Pink Floyd. But the generation gap has widened considerably - they've moved from head banging to punk rock - it's now techno-rap. A few months ago my 14 year old daughter told me that if her friends found out she had Eric Clapton on her iPod, she'd be the laughing stock of the school let alone the grade. "But do you know who Clapton is" I implored, using my voice reserved for someone truly special."Some old gizzard over 60 who plays country music" the bored response.
An article on Wikipedia states that numerous news agencies and papers have placed articles in which they quote parents from all over South Africa who claim that MXit is having an effect on their children's school work. Some argue that their children fail to communicate properly and find themselves in their own world of mobile chat rooms.
First it was, and still is, television. Then computer online addiction. That's not too difficult - if the child becomes addicted, allow limited access by permision only (you do this with a secret password) or if necessary, remove the computer completely.
Programmes that operate from the cell phone are a different matter. Parents today use their child's cell phone as a means of staying in touch, confirm pick up times etc. Besides, who wants to go down the path of confiscating the phone and relegating their child to local social outcast? But that, according to Wikipedia, is exactly what some parents are resorting to.
If you have a solution that works for you, I'd like to hear from you, and I'll share the best ones with my other subscribers. As reasonable parents we want the best for our teenages, including a healthy social life, and do not want to be draconian. We also understand that each child is different - perhaps your child does not have electronic addiction or compulsive tendencies. But you are most likely in the minority. There is a limit when a fad is so compelling that it becomes addictive and affects the normal functioning of a child and compromises their role in the family and at school.
As a final comment - the explosion in technology, as terrific as it is, is leaving most adults gasping for breath. We can't fight it - it's like a tidal wave. Besides, many of us use it to good effect. With our Garmin GPS we can now get to anywhere in the world without knowing how the hell we got there! We can, however, pool ideas in a bid to ensure that technology is used in a positive way to make our lives better, rather than creating more problems than it solves.
We need a Mindset Shift - and quickly. 'Till next time!
Paul du Toit, Mindset Shifter.
