Three school shooting incidents in barely three months. I honestly never thought I would be writing that sentence about schools here in the Philippines. In June, we were shocked by the shooting at San Jose National High School in Tacloban City that left three students dead. Then in August came another heartbreaking incident at Ateneo de Zamboanga University, where a Grade 9 student shot a fellow learner before taking his own life. Just a month later, another shooting happened at Banga National High School in South Cotabato, again claiming the lives of young people.
These incidents somehow brought me back to the capstone project I implemented last year, which produced, among its outputs, the PTA Capacity Building Package. One component of the package is the Quarterly PTA Learning and Engagement Sessions, designed to provide meaningful opportunities for members of the Homeroom PTA, Grade-Level PTA, and School PTA to learn together, strengthen relationships, and become more actively involved in the life of the school.
Back then, the idea was anchored on a fairly simple principle: parents should not merely be called upon when schools need volunteers, contributions, or attendance during meetings. They should be genuine partners in the education and well-being of their children. Looking at the tragedies that have recently happened in our schools, that principle has become even more meaningful to me. School safety cannot be the responsibility of teachers and school officials alone. It is also ours as parents.
As a parent myself and having spent seven years as a teacher, I know how easy it is to think that once our children enter the school gate, they become the responsibility of their teachers. But parenting does not stop at the gate. If anything, these incidents should make us more interested in what is happening in our children's lives. And I do not mean simply asking, "How was school?" and being satisfied with the usual "Okay lang." We need to know their friends, their struggles, the things that make them angry and the things that frighten them. We need to notice when the child who used to talk endlessly during dinner suddenly becomes quiet, or when someone who used to enjoy going to school suddenly finds every excuse not to attend. The advice of Our Children Magazine to parents is surprisingly simple: be present, know your child's teachers, observe changes in behavior, listen, and communicate when something does not seem right. Simple things, yes. But these are exactly the little things we sometimes overlook while being busy providing everything else our children need.
Perhaps we should also teach our children that speaking up is not the same as being a "sumbungero" or "sumbungera." This is especially important today when much of their world exists beyond what we can physically see. Their friendships, conflicts, disappointments, and sometimes even their anger follow them home through their phones. If our children encounter threats, bullying, disturbing posts, talk about weapons, or a classmate expressing an intention to hurt himself or someone else, they should know that these are not things to keep among friends. They need to tell a trusted adult. And when they come to us, we parents have to listen before we judge, dismiss, or react. Not every angry post means that someone will become violent, and we should be careful not to label troubled children as dangerous. But neither should we simply shrug our shoulders and say, "Mga bata talaga." Sometimes, intervention can begin with one parent taking seriously something a child was brave enough to tell.
But there is another responsibility that hits much closer to home: we need to know what our children can access inside our own houses. In the South Cotabato incident, authorities reported that the firearm used belonged to the student's father. That fact should make every parent pause. We can surround our schools with guards, install CCTV cameras, inspect bags, and implement the strictest security measures possible, but these can only do so much if a child can gain access to a deadly weapon elsewhere. Parents who legally possess firearms therefore carry an enormous responsibility to ensure that these are secured and inaccessible to minors. But perhaps the larger lesson extends beyond guns. What are our children accessing online? What kind of content are they consuming? Who are they talking to? More importantly, do they feel comfortable enough to come to us when something is troubling them? We cannot watch our children every minute of the day, nor should we. But we can create the kind of home where anger can be talked about, disappointment can be cried over, mistakes can be admitted, and asking for help never becomes something to be ashamed of.
After incidents like these, it is understandable to ask what our schools, the Department of Education, law enforcement agencies, and government should do. And we should ask those questions because schools must continually strengthen measures that protect our learners. But as parents, perhaps we should also have the courage to ask ourselves: What can I do? Maybe it starts with putting the phone down and genuinely listening when our children tell us about their day. Maybe it means knowing their teachers and friends, attending that school meeting even when our schedule is already full, paying closer attention to changes in behavior, securing dangerous items at home, and teaching them that seeking help for themselves or for a friend is an act of courage. We may never be able to shield our children from every danger waiting beyond our doors. That is one of the most frightening realities of parenthood. But we can make sure that when something is wrong, our children know exactly where to run. And hopefully, their first safe place will always be home.
