If you asked me what every child in today's world must know to survive I would tell you reading, writing, speaking and the Internet. With these four skills, you have the world at your disposal.

The much lauded information age can be a difficult thing to wrap your head around if you are not a person who grew up with access to it. The drive for increased connectivity around the world is quite impressive but only if you have the good fortune to understand why. For many people, especially in this part of the world (East Africa), the information technology conversation might as well be a discussion about a mythical alien from a distant planet.

They simply have no means to relate to the world wide web and its many benefits. It is simply one of those things that governments and the race of people called ‘stake holders’ and ‘investors’ pat their own backs for at conferences that cost too much while sipping beverages that Jesus frowns upon.

This inability to relate to Information Technology is not in any way a question of intelligence but one of familiarity. We are all the sum total of our experiences and privileges. What we have the good fortune to come into contact with as we grow up determines how we interpret the world around us when we are older and by extension, the opportunities we are able to exploit. For many, the concept of computers as work, education and entertainment is far removed from the world which they have learned to accept as real.

It is no wonder then that not only is there widespread misunderstanding of what exactly ICT is but also a creeping mistrust of the internet and all things Technology. My mother uses WhatsApp on a daily basis. I receive a good supply of bible verses, motivational posters and even viral videos from her quite regularly. However, she is completely unwilling to join social media believing it, with good reason, to be dangerous and an invasion of privacy. She shares this fear with my father who is equally suspicious of everything social media and is yet to be fully convinced that the internet and computers in general are anything more than over-hyped toys.

The internet lies at the center of the information revolution. The ability for anyone from any part of the world to connect with anyone else in any other part of the world and gather almost all forms of information available to human beings is a shift in human evolution that probably has no equal in history. I am a product of the internet. I barely have any formal education beyond my secondary school certificate yet my enthusiasm for knowledge and information has allowed me to take advantage of the internet to educate myself, find gainful self-employment and actively engage in academic pursuits in science and technology. There is no other time in history where a sub-urban boy like myself from a small foot-hill town in Kenya could be able to achieve this feat. The internet is a miraculous gift of technology. Yet, it is equally a curse.

As it opens up opportunities to those who understand and exploit it, the internet has proven to be a hostile place for those who do not know how to deal with it. The rate of internet crime has soared due to the influx of new users who do not understand the basics of online security. Young children who figure out how to use the internet better and faster than their parents are becoming exposed to experiences and ideas they do not have the mental tools to deal with. As a result the rate and efficiency with which ordinary youthful exuberance turns into violence and exploitation has found fertile ground in this new space. Information technology is proving to be a double edged sword and it cuts deep both ways.

Read my article on dealing with the influx of information in today’s highly connected world titled ‘Keeping my Secular Sabbath Day Holy’.

The importance of information and communication for the most basic survival of human beings in the world today as well as the building of sustainable societies means that the internet is here to stay whether we like it or not. It is with this background that time is ripe that the education curriculum both for adults and children takes the internet seriously as a subject high up in the priority list with mathematics and language.

Children’s school books must now be written with a formal introduction to the internet and how to access it while guarding themselves from its pitfalls. Unlike the current tertiary IT courses that deal with the technical aspects of computers and the internet, it is crucial that every person learn the most rudimentary aspects of the web.

The basics may include for instance, learning how to use the internet as a tool for study and research on all aspects of life; learning how to differentiate between dependable online content and the myriad of opinions and assertions that exist therein as a result of a free space for expression; learning how to deal with trolls and the inadvertent negativity that online anonymity has brought out of otherwise ordinary people; the importance of self censorship and so on.

A basic knowledge of the internet is no doubt important for survival in today’s world and it is only a matter of time before our society literally depends on it. If you are a publisher out there, take this idea to heart. Soon I may call on you with my first book on the subject. If you are a writer, feel free to beat me to it. Time is of the essence.

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