Protecting Our Students and Youth Online in this Time of COVID 19 Pandemic

Raissa Dana M. Quizon

“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children”, this is a quote from Nelson Mandela who is a political leader and a former President of South Africa. This quote always reminds me of protecting our children at all times, keeping away them from harm and exploitation.

I am very much fortunate in attending a webinar last August 2020 entitled “Safeguarding the Youth Online Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic in Central Luzon” which was organized by the Archdiocesan Commission on Migrants and Itinerant People of Pampanga (ACMIPP), in cooperation with the Archdiocesan Commission on Youth Ministry (ACYM). The organizers were very lucky that they have invited resource speakers coming from the Department of Education, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Philippine National Police and the Holy Angel University. The organizers sought the need of having this webinar to safeguard our children and youth in this time of COVID 19 pandemic and to give awareness in ending the human trafficking that is rampant nowadays.

The webinar started with an Opening prayer and message from Rev. Fr. Arnie Serrano, ACMIPP Director. He stressed out that nowadays we are not just battling for COVID19 but we are also have a battle with human traffickers who are using the pandemic to exploit a lot of people especially our youth and children. He encourage all the people to do their own share to end the battle against human trafficking.

The first speaker which was PSMS Gerald Flores, the Chief Investigator of the Regional Anti Trafficking in Persons Task Group Region III. Sir Flores gave a review on what is RA 9208: Anti Trafficking in Persons Act of 2008 and what are the categories of human trafficking. He also made mentioned about the penalties given to human traffickers, some will be imprisoned and will be given fine if the offenders are to be found guilty. Sir Flores also gave some hotlines and to whom people can report if they know cases about human trafficking and child abuse cases.

The second speaker was Ms. Presentacion Pinaroc, the Head of Community Based Services of the Department of Social Welfare & Development Region III. She made a discussion on child protection. She had mentioned that children have four kinds of rights such as survival rights, developmental rights, protection rights and participation rights. She enumerated on the abuses experienced by children, these are physical abuse, sexual abuse and emotional abuse. Ms. Pinaroc stressed that one should show the support and help to children who were abused, especially support coming his/her family members.

Mr. Alain Bernard Andal was the third speaker of the said webinar. He was a Guidance Counselor and Professor of the Holy Angel University. Mr. Andal’s topic was “Fostering a Healthy, Safe and Supportive Online Learning Environment”. He reminded that we should guide our children in the website and social media accounts that they are visiting. He said that using the internet and social media account has an advantage and risks. He made mentioned of content risks, accessibility risks, privacy and confidentiality risks. He adviced that we should not share our passwords to anyone. He shared some tips on ensuring our children’s safety online. Mr. Andal also said that a “home is a dwelling place together with the family, an environment offering security and happiness”. Lastly, he had a reminder to stay safe and healthy through these unusual times.

The last speaker was Mr. Aveneir Mendoza, Information Technology Officer of DepEd Division of Angeles City. The topic of Mr. Mendoza was “Digital Life as part of Security”. He started his discussion about the Six Pillars of Child Online Safety Index; (1) cyber risks, (2) disciplined digital use; (3) digital competency; (4) guidance education; (5) social infrastructure; (6) connectivity. He reminded everyone especially our youth to be cybersafe in online gaming, pornography and online chat. Mr. Mendoza discussed also about the Cyber Safe Survey Philippines 2015, that in every 10 children ages 7-16 years old, three of them chat with online strangers. He ended his presentation by reminding the parents and teachers to help and guide our children especially when they are online using the internet.

In the latter part of the webinar, Mr. Michael Quilala, who is a member of the Diocesan Cluster Against Human Trafficking in the Archdiocese of San Fernando, Pampanga shared about the response of the church about the problem on human trafficking. He mentioned about the programs and collaboration of the ACMIPP with government and private sectors. He encouraged the people to help the government in the fight against human trafficking. He called on the support of the parishes, schools and faith based groups to eradicate human trafficking.

I do hope that a lot of webinars can be organized especially in protecting our students and youth of today. It will give awareness to all of us that we should safeguard our children and youth at all times.

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The author is Teacher II at San Vicente Pilot School for Philippine Craftsmen.