The Hidden Curriculum and Student Ethics in the Digital Era

In the school environment, students do not only learn material written in textbooks. There is another thing called the hidden curriculum, namely the values, norms, and behavioural ethics that students absorb through daily habits. One of the most important values in our culture is politeness. However, amidst the massive use of gadgets and social media today, the culture of politeness among students is perceived to be eroding. This phenomenon indicates a significant challenge in how schools instil character in an unwritten manner. So, why has the school’s role in shaping student ethics become less optimal amidst the tide of digitalisation?

The first cause is the shift in interaction patterns due to social media being brought into the classroom. In the digital world, communication tends to be instant, free, and often ignores social hierarchies. When these digital habits are carried into school, the hidden curriculum of instilling manners often loses its strength. The relationship between students and teachers slowly becomes overly casual and vulnerable to losing mutual respect.

This condition is reinforced by the Digital Civility Index report released by Microsoft in 2020. The global research placed Indonesian netizens near the bottom, specifically at 29th out of 32 countries, in terms of online politeness. The low digital civility index was measured by the prevalence of negative behaviours while surfing social media, such as the spread of hoaxes, hate speech, verbal harassment, and cyberbullying. These communication habits from the minimally ethical digital space then seep in and influence students’ behaviour in the real world.

This ethical crisis was starkly reflected in a case that went viral in mid-April 2026 at SMAN 1 Purwakarta, where several students acted inappropriately by mocking and making insulting gestures towards a teacher in the classroom. Responding to the incident, former West Java Governor Dedi Mulyadi expressed his concern and stressed the importance of character building based on benefit. The school subsequently imposed sanctions including suspension and social tasks such as cleaning the school environment for several months. This case serves as a loud alarm that the function of punishment in schools must be restored as an instrument of moral guidance, not just a formal sanction.

The second cause relates to schools being too preoccupied with academic aspects and administrative reporting. The current formal curriculum design requires teachers to complete numerous material targets and fill in digital documents. As a result, teachers have very limited time to observe, reprimand, and guide students’ daily behaviour outside of lesson hours.

The hidden curriculum can only run effectively if there is consistent role modelling and direct supervision. When schools focus more on ensuring students get good grades on paper, real character strengthening in the field is often neglected. Repeated disciplinary cases prove that politeness is no longer a lived school culture, but merely text displayed on classroom walls.

Facing this situation, schools cannot simply blame the negative influence of the internet or gadgets. Educational institutions must strengthen their hidden curriculum through firm and consistent habituation. Teachers need to be given more leeway from administrative burdens so they can focus on being character mentors for students.

Politeness is not just memorised material for an exam, but a living culture that must be practised every day. The success of a curriculum should not only be measured by the cognitive intelligence of students in utilising technology, but also by how they maintain ethics, respect others, and preserve the value of courtesy wherever they are.