RENEE Boy Binondo, regional coordinator of the Regional Sub-Committee for the Welfare of Children, underscored the crucial need to enhance Digital Parenting during the Kapihan sa PIA on Friday, November 17.
He said that the surge in Online Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children (Osaec) cases in the country often stems from inadequate parental guidance.
Binondo revealed the committee's commitment to reinforcing Digital Parenting through the Republic Act (RA) 11908, known as the Parent Effectiveness Services (PES) Program Act. This initiative aims to uphold children's rights, promote healthy development, and enhance academic achievement.
While RA 11908 primarily focuses on early childhood, the committee advocates for its implementation across all stages of a child's development.
Binondo emphasized the importance of empowering parents to regulate their children's digital activities, acknowledging the challenges posed by the ever-evolving landscape of technology.
“We want to strengthen parenting, especially in digital parenting. Children are fully aware of how to utilize this world wide web, the internet, technologies, and gadgets but what will always be our weakness is that our parents cannot regulate. They need capacities and to inform them that they can regulate gadgets, they can regulate Google app store, they can regulate the internet as soon as they provide these gadgets to their kids,” Binondo said.
Binondo highlighted the inadequacy of some government parenting programs, particularly in barangays, to cope with digitalization.
Drawing from the 2015 Violence Against Children baseline study, which identified challenges in addressing online and offline violence against children, Binondo emphasized the need for robust online measures using RA 11908.
The committee plans to integrate digital parenting into existing programs such as the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) Family Development Session and Parent Effectiveness Services (PES) in Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD).
In addition to supporting parents, the committee aims to equip children with the skills to protect themselves.
Binondo stressed the importance of enhancing children's capacities and life skills to ensure their self-protection, acknowledging the limitations of constant parental and teacher supervision.
Maria Teresa C. Dela Rosa, a lead researcher from Ateneo de Davao University, highlighted the multifaceted nature of OSAEC beyond parenting.
In her study on female adolescents in Davao City, she found that poverty played a significant role in driving some to engage in OSAEC during the pandemic.
Dela Rosa urged authorities to consider the impact of poverty on families, whose children may resort to indecent online activities due to economic hardships caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Osaec goes beyond parenting. It talks about poverty, yung kawalan, why did they engage in such especially during the pandemic– parang napilitan talaga sila to engage in OSAEC (OSAEC goes beyond parenting. It talks about poverty, the loss, why did they engage in such especially during a pandemic– it's like they were forced to engage),” Dela Rosa said. RGP
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