Press 3

[u Clean]Seventeens to Seventies, “Now you’re talking”
[ We’re living in Internet-③We’re Cyber Family]
[Moneytoday2006.11.02 (Thu)]

"Hello. I’m a Seongji high school student and I’ve attended high school for a year.I like music so I’ve began piano lesson since last year. And the thing is that there’s very smaller time to play the piano after going to high school. I want to go to music school but my parents oppose the idea and my school environment is far from music. I did think about quitting school to study music only to find it too impractical. What should I do now?"(Seongji high school student, Da-hyeop, Kim)




　" Da-hyeop, you seem to have pretty big problem. I could understand how much you liked the piano through your writing. I’d support your idea if you had special talent and many years of experience. But, it seems to me that you started piano lesson too late. I want you to think about your talent in piano as well as your passion. Furthermore, your parents’ support and teacher’s counseling have to be considered before you make your own decision. I hope you can be clear and objective on this matter. "( Cyber Grandfa Jung-soo, Lee)




This is the conversation between grandfa in Busan and a student in Seongji high school in Gyeonggi Province. Although they don’t even know their faces, their conversation is more warm and serious than the one between a real grandfa and grandson.



　 ‘Cyber Family Bulletin Board’(http://www.wellageing.com) run by the Research Institute of Science for the Better Living of the Elderly is the space for true intergeneration between old people in sixties or seventies and the adolescents.






　 ‘Cyber Family’ Program aims to make warmer digital world through the dialogue among the adolescents and the elderly with silver members in sixties to seventies as well as the students from 7 middle&high school nationwide. Students post their problems or stories to share with the seniors who kindly post their message in response.



◇" We’re Family through the internet"
　 Are seventeen can talk with seventies even though they don’t even know their faces? The answer is yes. Rather, if we take a closer look at the dialogue between the seniors and the adolescents we can find it more intimate than that between friends.



"Dear.In-Young and Byeol in Hwasan Middle School
You two are quite good friends for each other. Talk with your friend whenever there’s something uncomfortable otherwise the misunderstanding estranges you. Friendship can be undermined with time. Good friend is invaluable. Even if you can’t see what it means now, you shall when you get into the world. I hope you two can be friends forever." (Cyber Grandfa Kyuyeol-Kim)




" Reading your message, I think I gotta sort out all the misunderstanding. I’ll be friend with Byeol forever. Thank you. " (In-Young, Roh, Hwasan Middle School)




" Thank you for your concern. We sometimes make
a mistake and hate each other, but we’re still friends. Don’t worry about us. I’ll keep your advice in mind. Thanks. " (Seo-Byeol, Hwasan Middle School)




　 Seniors even play a role of life counselor which cannot be played by a teacher or the parents. As a result, students posted over 1min messages on the board ranging from study problem to interest in the other sex. Sang-an Park in Seongji High School says "At first, it felt awkward to talk with the old people in the cyber space. But I started to like very thoughtful replies from them so I visit website frequently beside myself. "




　 Once in a while, computer counseling is also conducted since many silver members working on the board have background in computer-related job. So, when a student asked about how to create a homepage, they replied with professional knowledge.



◇ Cyber Humanism on-line and off-line




　 This summer, the elderly and the adolescents gathered together off-line. The ‘Cyber Family Camp’ was held in Busan for 3 days in August with 60 students including those from Japan and 30 silver members. It was memorable time for both the seniors and the adolescents. For the students, they wiped out their prejudice against the elderly. For the seniors, they understood the new trend among teenagers and found their part in them.



　 Dr. Donghee Han, a director of Research Institute of Science for the Better Living of the Elderly says, “We created Cyber Family Program to generate humanism in cyber space through communication among the various generations rather than emphasizing the side effect of the internet. Adding. “I hope all the generations can spread warm digital world through this program.”