Religious Department Boosts Youth Morality Through Technology

The Department of Religious Affairs, Ministry of Culture, organized the 'Open House' activity for the Sunday Buddhist Study Center for fiscal year 2026. Phra Thep Wacharanusit, ecclesiastical district chief of Bueng Kum and assistant abbot of Wat Pho, served as the monastic president, while Chaiyon Suk-iam, director-general of the Department of Religious Affairs, served as the civil ceremony president. Representatives from the department, partner agencies, network members, administrators, teachers, and children and youth from Sunday Buddhist Study Centers in Bangkok attended the event held recently at Wat Pho in Phra Nakhon District. The activity's purpose was to open a venue for learning exchange and opinion sharing on ways to promote morality and ethics, monitor the performance of Sunday Buddhist Study Centers in Bangkok, and apply the acquired knowledge to enhance operational effectiveness. It sought to promote integrated cooperation through the 'Phanom Bun' mechanism—home, temple/religious site, school/government—so that all sectors could participate in developing youth who possess knowledge alongside virtue and can become good members of society. Inside the event, various activities were organized to increase knowledge and provide opportunities for the Sunday Buddhist Study Center network to exchange experiences, including a seminar on 'Driving the Sunday Buddhist Study Center Toward Success' with representatives from Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University, Mahamakutrajavidyalaya University, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration Education Office, the Morals Center (public organization), and the Department of Religious Affairs, plus a hands-on workshop on 'Using AI for Youth in the 21st Century' to help children and youth understand technology and use modern technology creatively and appropriately. Additionally, there were creative Buddhist outreach talks titled 'Happy Dharma', exhibitions of the centers’ operations and community products, and cultural performances by the network, reflecting the role of the Sunday Buddhist Study Center as a learning space for Buddhism, morality, ethics, arts and culture, and youth capacity building in the community. Chaiyon Suk-iam said the department values developing the Sunday Buddhist Study Center into a learning source and creative space for children and youth, and the Open House offers a key opportunity to link networks, exchange knowledge, experience, and operational approaches between the centers and relevant agencies to raise morality and ethics promotion in line with current social contexts. The department hopes the centers will become more than just places for studying Buddhist teachings—they will be places for learning, life‑skill development, and moral cultivation for children and youth, as well as hubs for religious activities and community‑heart gathering, relying on cooperation from families, religious institutions, schools, government bodies, and network partners to raise youth who are 'good, skilled, and virtuous' and become a driving force for sustainable social and national development. The fiscal year 2026 'Open House' event at Wat Pho aimed to raise awareness and understanding of the role of the Sunday Buddhist Study Center, expand ethics‑cooperation networks, and ...