A child goes outside to play. An adult sees the child near a house. Something is missing. Suddenly, the child becomes a suspect.
But when did playing become a crime?
Children have a right to grow, explore, socialize and play. The 1987 Constitution expressly recognizes the right of children to special protection from neglect, abuse, cruelty, exploitation and other conditions prejudicial to their development.
That constitutional protection should mean something in our villages.
If property has been stolen, investigate. If there is evidence that a child took something, establish the facts. If a child actually committed wrongdoing, the child should be corrected appropriately.
But suspicion is not evidence.
And accusation is not conviction.
What becomes particularly disturbing is when adults allegedly confront children, repeatedly accuse them of
stealing or attempting to steal, ridicule them, intimidate them, or deliberately shame them before other children and neighbors.
That is no longer simply about protecting property.
It becomes a question of how adults treat children.
Republic Act 7610, the Special Protection of Children against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act,
declares the State’s policy of protecting children from abuse, neglect, cruelty and discrimination. Its definition of child abuse includes psychological and physical abuse, emotional maltreatment, and acts by words or deeds that debase, degrade or demean the intrinsic worth and dignity of a child.
That should make every adult pause before publicly humiliating a child.
Does that automatically mean every harsh word spoken to a child constitutes a crime under RA 7610?
No.
The law must be applied to the specific facts, and criminal liability cannot simply be declared by neighbors,
parents, social-media users, or columnists. But neither should adults assume that humiliating, threatening,
degrading or psychologically harming a child carries no possible legal consequence.
There is also an important distinction concerning the Anti-Bullying Act of 2013. Republic Act 10627 primarily addresses bullying in elementary and secondary schools and requires schools to adopt policies against such conduct. Thus, not every neighborhood dispute automatically falls under that law. Nevertheless, its recognition of psychological and verbal harm reinforces an important principle: children deserve protection from conduct that humiliates, threatens or demeans them.
So what should responsible adults do?
Talk to the children calmly. Contact their parents or guardians. Establish what actually happened. If there is
credible evidence of theft, use proper barangay or legal procedures.
Do not conduct a street trial.
Do not turn suspicion into a permanent label.
Do not use adult power to frighten children into submission.
Children must learn responsibility—but adults must demonstrate responsibility first.
Perhaps the real test of a community is not how aggressively it protects property, but how fairly it treats its most vulnerable members.
A bicycle, cellphone, toy, money or other possession can be replaced.
A child’s dignity is harder to repair.
So before an adult points a finger at a child and shouts, “Thief!” perhaps the better question is: What evidence do I have—and what kind of adult am I becoming in the eyes of this child?
Let children play.
Let truth establish wrongdoing.
And let adults remember that protecting children is not merely kindness.
It is a responsibility—and, in appropriate circumstances, the law may have something to say about how that responsibility is exercised.
