The Philippine Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics has urged parents and guardians to strictly monitor minors' online activities, citing the recommendation of the Philippine Pediatric Society (PPS) that children aged 16 and below should not have unsupervised access to social media.
Call for Parental Vigilance
The group emphasized the need to protect children from dangerous online content that could affect or influence their actions. This includes age-inappropriate material, harmful conversations, threats, violent videos, and other threats in the digital space.
According to the group, which consists of pediatricians and experts, children with existing or prior developmental, behavioral, and mental health needs are especially vulnerable to exposure to the digital space.
Unregulated Online Content
The experts noted that online content is not regulated, and exposure to dangerous material could potentially influence children. They maintained that children's access to the digital space must be regulated, especially since the government cannot regulate all online content.
The recommendation comes amid growing concerns over online safety, following incidents such as the Tacloban school shooting, which highlighted the impact of unregulated online content on minors.
