Göktaş attended the “Well-being Symposium”, organized in cooperation with Esenler Municipality and Yıldız Technical University, where local government problems in some cities, especially Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, will be discussed.
Speaking at the program at the University’s Davutpaşa Campus, Göktaş said that healthy families form the basis of a family-friendly city, and a family-friendly city is a city that offers a high quality of life by taking into account the needs of all individuals and families, including women, children, young and old.
Participants were asked, “So, what makes a city family-friendly?” Asking the question, Göktaş said, “They are cities where children can grow up safely, where education and health services are easily accessible, and which support social development with sports and activity areas. They are cities where healthy living spaces intertwined with nature, neighborhood culture and neighborly relations are preserved. The understanding of social service is at the center of maintaining these qualities.” “This understanding provides an opportunity that takes into account the needs of individuals, eliminates the root causes of problems and strengthens disadvantaged groups.” he said.
In this sense, Göktaş emphasized that social service policies aim to make cities not only places to live, but places to be lived, and noted that the power of a society is measured not only by its economic size, but also by the happiness, peace and interconnectedness of its individuals.
Stating that, as the Ministry, they have implemented all social policies with a people-oriented approach, Göktaş said, “We continue our work for the great Turkish family of 85 million by saying ‘Strong family, strong society, strong Turkey’. With our ‘Protection and Strengthening of the Family Vision Document and Action Plan’, we continue to work on the basic principles of the society.” “We are taking strategic steps to support and strengthen the family, which is its building block, in every aspect. Our action plan focuses on family-friendly environmental policies that aim to increase the resilience of families to disasters and emergencies.” he said.
Göktaş stated that they aim to spread the concept of a family-friendly city that takes care of the basic needs of families and supports them to spend time together, and reminded them of the two new studies they initiated in the previous days, “Social Risk Map” and “Family Guide System”.
Pointing out that one of the most important factors that reshape the understanding of social service today is the rapid advancement of technology and digitalization, Göktaş said:
“Digital transformation allows social services to reach wider audiences and to produce faster and more effective solutions. Online consultancy services and data-based social policies are among the innovations in this field. However, this situation does not reflect the human dimension of social work by seeing technology as a tool.” Because digitalization makes our lives easier, it also brings with it some challenges, threats and dangers. Privacy of personal data, cyber security risks, digital bullying, peer bullying and digital addiction are just a few of these dangers. “It requires us to be cautious and find solutions to the problems we experience.”
– “STRONG CHARACTERS IN GAMES CAUSE NEGATIVE EFFECTS ON CHILDREN’S DEVELOPMENT”
Reminding that they organized the “Digital Addiction and Family Workshop” in October with the participation of experts on the subject, parents and children, Göktaş noted that they prepared a preliminary report about the workshop and that they saw that the report included striking findings about social media use and digital addiction.
Stating that according to this report, above all, social media and digital games have a deep impact on children, Göktaş continued as follows:
“Strong characters in games cause negative effects on children’s development. Again, the report includes findings that children gain self-confidence and courage by choosing strong, dark figures or figures who can use all weapons expertly in games. At the same time, some of the children want to have the power of these characters and enjoy the power of these characters during the game.” They feel that they have created a new personality for themselves. After the game is over, children experience weakening in their social relationships and social isolation. Children state that digital tools do not prevent them from spending time with their families, but they feel empty and experience sadness and insecurity when they do not pick up their phones. “On the other hand, digital content can lead to addiction and impulsive behavioral disorders over time. In other words, it harms children’s social adaptation and co-existence skills, increases the risk of committing crimes, and paves the way for acts that have legal sanctions.”
Göktaş stated that it is of great importance for everyone to take responsibility at this point and stated that they are in preparation to protect children from these harms of social media.
Referring to the activities carried out in this context, Göktaş said, “We are examining world examples regarding the use of social media and social networks by children. We aim to implement a regulation regarding the use of social media by our children. We will share the report of the workshop, the striking results we obtained and the solution suggestions with the public in the coming days.” he said.
Göktaş, philosopher and scientist Farabi’s quote “Happiness lies in the peace and order of a city.” Quoting his words, “We all have important duties to build a peaceful, safe and strong society. Building a strong society with this understanding of responsibility that extends from family to neighborhood, from city to country, requires transforming the happiness of individuals into the happiness of the society.” he said.
In the program, AK Party Deputy Chairman Çiğdem Karaaslan, Deputy Chairman of the Presidential Local Government Policies Board Prof. Dr. Şükrü Karatepe, Yıldız Technical University Rector Prof. Dr. Eyüp Debik, Esenler Mayor Tevfik Göksu and Prof. Dr. Sadettin Ökten City Thought Center Scientific Board Chairman Mazhar Bağlı also made a greeting speech.
After the speeches, the participants took family photos.
The “Well-being Symposium” held at the University’s Davutpaşa Campus will continue tomorrow.
Source: www.star.com.tr
