FIRING LINE: Are we doing enough to protect the youth?

By Robert B. Roque, Jr.

Two Sundays ago on July 19, screenshots began circulating of chat threads allegedly plotting coordinated attacks by apparently radicalized teenagers on three Quezon City public schools — Flora Ylagan High School in Diliman, Ramon Magsaysay High School in Cubao, and Quirino High School in Project 3.

Diabolically, the conversation spoke not just of targeting but harming anybody they could cross paths with. And among the images shared in the thread was a combat knife, alongside talk of using guns.

Monday, July 20, was the supposed day of attacks, sending school authorities into a high alert. Police went plainclothes, barangay tanod fanned out, bags were checked, perimeter security widened beyond the school blocks.

Whether the plot was real or a cruel prank, one could only imagine the fear it produced among the students and their parents.

I have written in this corner before about the pipeline that leads here: nihilistic online subcultures that groom the young through gaming communities and social platforms, feeding them a diet of despair, violence, and belonging-through-brutality until some cross from consumption into action.

The Tacloban City school shooting this past June, which claimed three young lives and wounded 20 more, is the grim proof of concept. Investigators traced both minor suspects back to prolonged exposure to violent online content and the sandbox game GoreBox.

Quezon City’s near-miss last week is not an isolated scare, but the same fire finding new kindling, which is why the Philippine National Police (PNP)’s latest proposal deserves more than a passing nod.

Following the 44th ASEANAPOL conference in Pasay City, Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. and Brig. Gen. Matthew Baccay signaled the Philippines is studying Australia’s law barring social media access for anyone 16 and under, intending to replicate or improve it here.

It is a drastic measure, and perhaps a solid proposal our society needs to consider more than just dismiss. Because given the onset of violence on campuses, drastic is exactly what this moment calls for.

We have tried awareness campaigns, guidance counselors, hotlines, and moral suasion. Meanwhile, algorithms built to maximize engagement keep feeding vulnerable children into radicalization funnels faster than any school program can counter.

Maybe there will be opposition, as a hard age gate will not fix everything, and it will not be popular with an industry that profits from young attention. But it draws a line that has been dangerously absent.

Congress must not let this proposal gather dust in another committee room while pretending more studies are needed. Every week lawmakers hesitate is another week children remain at the mercy of algorithms that neither know nor care whose life they ruin. If Big Tech refuses to protect our children, then government must finally find the courage to do what Silicon Valley never will.

*         *         *

SHORT BURSTS. For comments or reactions, email firingline@ymail.com or tweet @Side_View via X app (formerly Twitter). Read current and past issues of this column at https://www.thephilbiznews.com