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BKKBN spurs creation of digital educational contents on health among youngsters
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(Courtesy of BKKBN)
I
ndonesian youngsters are adept at using various digital platforms and spend a lot of their time conducting their activities with the help of these platforms. While many have voiced concerns about the negative impacts these platforms can have on teenagers, if used properly, the youngsters can actually use these platforms in creative ways to earn a living.
But they can maximize their creative and intellectual potential only when they are physically healthy and have a sound plan for their future.
Keeping these two issues in mind, to encourage constructive and creative activities among Indonesian youngsters, all the while educating them on the importance of family planning and a healthy lifestyle, the National Population and Family Planning Board (BKKBN) recently organized a gathering teenage members of online gaming communities.
The gathering, which was held on Sept. 23 at the Ciputra shopping center in Cibubur, East Jakarta, was an opportunity for creative Indonesians to meet, network and exchange ideas.
The event was complemented with a talk show aimed at inspiring the youngsters to put their digital technology and online gaming skills to use in beneficial endeavors, like developing educational games and software for young people or championing games tournaments, for instance, in line with the BKKBN’s public campaigns.
The talk show featured several panelists with relevant expertise, such as BKKBN Acting Chairman and public health expert Sigit Priohutomo, digital gaming expert Fransiska Oetami as well as gamer Nixia Monica Carolina.
According to Sigit, the BKKBN is in need of many game and software developers who can create educational content related to population and family planning issues: out-of-wedlock pregnancy and drug abuse prevention, healthy lifestyle adoption, reproductive health planning, as well as career and educational planning.
In its press release, the BKKBN states that Indonesia’s young generation needs to understand these issues properly and embrace a healthy lifestyle, so that they can play their role as the future of Indonesia’s socio-economic development.
“Through its generasi berencana (well-planned generation, shortened as GenRe) program, the BKKBN aims to facilitate teenagers in learning how to adopt a healthier lifestyle and plan their future in a better, more informed way. We hope that these things can help our youngsters serve reliably as our country’s future, using technology to positively impact society,” Sigit said.
He added that, thanks to their adeptness at using digital platforms and the internet, the gaming community could help the board develop educational content to spread information on the abovementioned issues among fellow youngsters, so that they could learn about these issues in an engaging way.
To stimulate the creation of such educational content, the BKKBN also recently organized a competition called the 2018 Sayembara Cipta Games.
The competition featured an open submission system, where applicants from anywhere in the country could submit educational games they had created to spread awareness on the importance of reproductive health and a healthy lifestyle among young people.
Participants in the competition received coaching from BKKBN’s counseling and information center for teens on how to stimulate the curiosity of Indonesian youngsters on family planning issues as well as the points they needed to emphasize in their games as they were developing their software.
The competition’s panel of judges included experts in the fields of family planning and communications, including BKKBN Teen Resilience Director Eka Sulistya Ediningsih; gaming and branding expert Hendra Wahyudin, who formerly worked for the Lyto Games company, as well as BKKBN GenRe Program Information and Data Director Bagus Hidayat.
From all submissions the BKKBN collected, three game production houses focusing on educational software – Educa, Inmotion and Creacle – were choses as finalists, before the judges named Educa as the competition’s overall winner.
