ONLINE EXTREMISM FUELS CONCERNS
On Jun 22, two students aged 14 and 15 opened fire at San Jose National High School in Tacloban City, killing three students and injuring 20 others.
The rare attack has heightened concerns over students’ safety.
“It’s really worrying,” said James Cannaveral, a student at Manila Science High School. “We never thought this could happen, and that our lives are at stake every day that we go to school.”
Cybersecurity experts warn that popular games and social media platforms have increasingly become recruitment grounds for extremist groups.
One such group, known as 764, was found to have recruited one of the Tacloban shooters.
“They really just like the feeling of influencing others to do harm, to do violence and to kill other people since that is part of their ideology,” said cybersecurity advocacy group Deep Web Konek’s Luis Angelo Talatala.
SUPPORT BEYOND SOCIAL MEDIA
Psychologists and cybersecurity experts say online exposure alone does not explain violent behaviour.
They observe that many children who develop violent tendencies are already experiencing difficulties at home or in school, meaning rules governing social media can only go so far.
Experts say more also needs to be done to address the shortage of counsellors in Philippine schools and to give children better access to mental health support.
Psychologists stress that parents remain central to recognising troubling behaviour early and setting appropriate boundaries.
“When early aggressive behaviours tend to appear in the home, we don’t just leave them as is,” said Bengwasan.
“Communicating certain limits to the child also sparks that conversation that there are things that should not happen.”
