Children aging 5 to 14 are exposed to inappropriate media content, the National Council For Children’s Television (NCCT) said.
A research, launched by the NCCT entitled “The Filipino Child and Media: Media Consumption, Parental Mediation and Classroom Performance,” shows that majority of the TV programs and video games children are exposed to involve negative themes.
The study, conducted in partnership with the Far Eastern University, covered urban and rural areas with high media consumption based on the 2015 NCCT research. The research was conducted among Grades 1 to 6 school children in public and private schools in the Philippines country. It had a total of 2,203 participants of which 1,007 were pupils, 1,007 were parents and 189 were teacher-advisers.
“Yung mga nakikita nila sa games, sa internet cafes … yung mga pinanonood nila na medyo pornographic po na hindi natin alam. Na-shock kami nung prinesent yung research, cartoons ha pero napaka-pornographic,” said Alice Pañares, a NCCT member from the academe sector.
Pañares added that one of the media or video children watch was an explicit dating simulator and visual novel-style game.
It echoed the suggestion of children and parents to have more child-friendly media content, stricter regulation of internet cafes, and engage family into more social activities like sports, outdoor activities and other bonding moments with relatives.
Pañares added that NCCT aims to increase the release of child-friendly television shows to prevent the children’s consumption of inappropriate TV shows.
“Violence is all around us, it is part and parcel of a child’s life. That is why why we have to come up with a good children’s show,” she said.
Republic Act No. 8370 or the Children’s Television Act of 1997 recognizes the impact of television on the value of formation and intellectual development of Filipino children. It is envisioned to ensure that quality television programs that meet the informational and educational needs of children are made available to them.
“We are trying to talk to different kinds of people from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao—the parents, students, local government units and the educators,” she also said, pointing out their nationwide advocacy on the said issue.
She also said that there is what they call a safe harbor time for children shows, in which childhood shows should be aired at 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. everyday.
“This is to provide children good TV shows that they should watch. We should provide good TV shows for them,” she said.
She also added that base on research, eighty-four percent of Filipino children prefer TV as their source of information, and that it is vital to create TV shows that develops positive demonstration of things that they may learn.
However, if TV stations failed to acquire the said mandate, they have to talk or have a dialogue to for them to explain their selves in the first offense, but the next time around they will be taken under the care of the The Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB), the Philippine Information Agency (PIA), or to the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) in which the NTC have the power to rebuke license if TV networks do not abide by the laws.
“Those TV shows that children are watching will create a mark in their minds, their hearts and their values, so we have to make TV shows that will mold them to be better,” she said.
Luis Gatmaitan, NCCT chair, said they preferred an active co-viewing between the child and the parents instead of restrictive viewing.
“Yung co-viewing ang maganda kasi ito yung (may) parental mediation na madalas nangyayari, sabay silang nanonood… since nandoon na si nanay o tatay at anak (there is a discussion).”
The National Council for Children’s Television strengthens their advocacy in promoting educational, informative and child-friendly television shows for children as they launch the Child-Friendly Content Standards to protect children from the violent influence of modern television shows.
The NCCT is a government agency primarily mandated to promote and encourage the production and broadcast of quality television programs for children.
By Aileen Sampang and Samantha Burgos
