When High School Students Challenge Journalism |
THE Library of SMA Sukma Bangsa Lhokseumawe, Aceh (Indonesia) was already full of grade XII students. They sat cross-legged neatly on the clean floor, ready to receive a sermon.
However, this sermon was about journalism and how to write it easily and according to journalistic language, values, and principles. The library is often the venue for training that invites guest teachers, usually professionals in their fields.
This time, SMA Sukma Bangsa invited the former editor-in-chief of kabartamiang.com, Ayi Jufridar, who is now a member of the Lhokseumawe City Bawaslu for the 2023-2028 period. The theme proposed by SMA Sukma Bangsa teacher, Suci Aulia Zahman, was about news writing, but Ayi Jufridar touched on many things, including journalism in the era of artificial intelligence (AI).
"If it's just writing news and basic journalism, the children have already learned it from their teachers," said Ayi Jufridar, Friday (7/3/2025). He is often invited to SMA Sukma Bangsa Lhokseumawe to be a guest teacher according to his expertise, especially in journalism and writing, and recently in his capacity as a member of Bawaslu Lhokseumawe City.
When a number of superheroes were shown on the screen, around 60 students from two grades XII of SMA Sukma Bangsa fluently mentioned the names of the characters and their jobs, most of whom were journalists or photographers. They could even mention the real names of the actors and their characters.
A sweet start. Next, the presentation on news writing went smoothly. They listened diligently while most of them were fasting. "More students should have attended," said Ibu Suci Aulia.
Literacy is indeed one of the advantages of SMA Sukma Bangsa, both in Lhokseumawe, Bireuen, and Pidie. Another SMA Sukma Bangsa is located in Sigi, Central Sulawesi. In addition to routinely inviting guest teachers, SMA Sukma Bangsa routinely holds Kenduri Buku, an activity to dissect books written by teachers and students. It is no wonder that when there was an article writing competition at Malikussaleh University, five out of six categories were won by students from Sukma Bangsa Lhokseumawe, Bireuen, and Pidie.
"Traditions like this should also be maintained in other schools. The onslaught of digital technology is one of the challenges to students' literacy skills. The methods used at SMA Sukma Bangsa can be adopted in other schools," said Ayi Jufridar.
The students' insight and knowledge were seen when they entered the question and answer session. Cut Zahra Alayya Salsabila, for example, challenged online media news titles that often use the concept of clickbait or click bait to attract readers to click on the link.
"Sometimes the content is very different from the content. Can this kind of behavior be done in journalism?" asked Cut Zahra.
Another quality question also came from Sultan Ihsan Maulana who challenged the use of children as sources in news stories concerning adults. “Is that (using children as sources) justified in journalism?” Sultan asked in a challenging tone.
Ayi said that the quality of the students’ questions showed that they had read material about journalism or followed current developments in mass media. “So, they didn’t just come as listeners,” he said.
Another teacher, Dewi Puspita Sari, said that the students were required to practice the training in writing news based on the material they had received. “The task of writing news was done in groups, but it had to be submitted within a certain deadline. Later, we will evaluate the students’ work,” explained Ibu Dewi.[]
