Cyberspace, is the new playground. That’s where young people gather today. Are the Salesians, the self-proclaimed Missionaries of the Young, able to accompany the young where they now gather?. What’s their presence in cyberspace?
It’s hard to change a mind set and move with the times. Even today, the Salesians in India give priority to running schools and meeting the youngsters on the school playgrounds. If Don Bosco were here today he would be in Cyberspace in a huge way –and not on the school playground. We are missing the boat!
The Salesian have two major WebPages – www.sdb.org and www.donboscoindia.com, the former the official international site and the latter the official South Asian Site. But whom do these serve? The Salesians, of course. What’s the content of these pages? Salesian stuff, of course! In what way do these pages serve young people? Not much! Where’s the content that would attract young people to these pages? Very little indeed! It’s time the Salesians offered a Web that would truly become a playground where the Salesians and the young chat together—walk together. For this Salesians have also to be much more comfortable and adept at using the language and tools of cyberspace, if they are to truly accompany the young today. And have an appreciative, positive attitude toward Cyberspace and its enormous potential for good.
And, if we are to reach the young in Cyberspace, the sites have to be truly interactive, with ample scope for exchanging ideas and making comments freely. From what I have read in regard to this, the Salesians are mighty scared of such interaction capabilities!
But individually some of us Salesians have discovered the power of the personal blog. As our media commentator CM Paul said in a recent email to a former General Councillor, “we are going to have a new revolution free and loud expression of opinions and ideas thru personal BLOGs...That will cover and criss cross all boundaries!”
I can't but quote here a favourite Gospel verse: "Fear is useless. Only trust is needed!"
Welcome to new possibilities!
