Arifah hopes children's storybook will foster closeness between parents and children

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Minister for Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Arifah Fauzi hopes that the existence of the children’s storybook titled “Mission for Raka” can build emotional closeness between parents and children. “We hope that parents not only provide books but also read the stories together, thereby building emotional closeness between parents and children, which is currently increasingly distant,” said the Minister of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection at an event titled “Public Education for Children and Parents Through the Illustrated Children’s Storybook Mission for Children”, in Jakarta on Wednesday. According to her, children’s current screen time exposure is quite high, ranging from 6 to 7 hours per day. Therefore, a diversion to beneficial activities such as reading storybooks is needed. “Survey results show that children’s screen time is around 6-7 hours; this is an alarm for all of us,” said Minister Arifah Fauzi. Meanwhile, Head of Policy and Advocacy at the Tanoto Foundation, Eddy Henry, hopes the book can help families, especially vulnerable ones, in obtaining children’s reading materials. “We are collaborating with the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection and the Ministry of Education to create children’s storybooks because we see that many parents in families, especially vulnerable ones, still struggle to obtain beneficial reading books,” said Eddy Henry. They also encourage parents and educators to utilise children’s storybooks to reduce children’s screen time. “We certainly hope that many parents, teachers, educators, and facilitators can use this book to divert the children they care for from gadget exposure,” said Eddy Henry. The storybook “Mission for Raka” tells the tale of two sibling characters named Tora and Tania who are visiting their grandmother’s house. Their cousin, Raka, is also at the grandmother’s house but is preoccupied with playing on gadgets. Tora and Tania then devise a plan for Raka to divert his busyness from gadgets.