Tags: Education News, Government Policies, School Concerns
By Alexander Villafania
PASIG CITY, METRO MANILA – The Department of Education (DepEd) recently established the Department Media Literacy Task Force (MLTF) in an effort to strengthen knowledge among children about the effects of all forms of media, including the Internet.
The MLTF is set to formulate the National Media Literacy Education Plan (NMLEP), which will include teaching the different forms of media in public schools, development and production of media learning resources. It will also form partnerships with representatives in the media industry to provide inputs.
DepEd Secretary Mona Valisno said knowing the effects of media should start early among children who are becoming more exposed to various forms of information dissemination, particularly online.
“We believe that our young learners need to be protected from adverse media which they encounter everyday while in the process of acquiring information and entertainment,” Valisno said.
Citing the report Cartoon Network New Generations 2009, more kids are watching TV everyday, followed by using their computers to access the Internet. Of the 1,000 children surveyed, more than 90 percent among kids aged seven to 14 years old watch TV while up to 45 percent access the Internet everyday.
In addition, according to a research by Yahoo! Philippines and Nielsen, a large percentage of Internet users in the Philippines are actually children in elementary to teenagers in high school.
Valisno said teachers and school administrators will soon be undergoing training for the eventual integration of media education in schools. She also noted that a National Consultative Conference and Workshop on Media Literacy Education will also be held soon wherein media literacy curriculum will be developed.
The DepEd is acting on current problems about the negative effects of access to media, particularly on violent material and pornography.
Just last March, Congressman Narciso Santiago proposed the institutionalization of Internet safety education in all public schools. He also cited the same studies used by DepEd to come up with their curriculum program.
The Anti-Child Pornography Act was also passed into law last year. In it, the Internet is cited as one of the sources of pornography and that violators, including Internet cafes and Internet service providers, could be held liable for the distribution of pornographic material.
While government and education sectors are acting to curb against content that are deemed unsafe for children, other institutions are also conducting widespread education campaigns to teach parents on watching over their children’s access to media, especially the Internet.
One such organization is the End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography, and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes, which has conducted its Make-IT Safe program in several countries, including the Philippines.
The ECPAT created a guidebook for parents and educators on how they can protect their children from the different types of malicious activities online. Essentially, the ECPAT encourages parents to know their children’s online activities by knowing how to use computers themselves. Likewise, ECPAT also encourages the installation of filtering software on their home computers to somehow prevent their kids from accessing unwanted content.
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