“God judges when one generation fails its responsibility to pass on righteousness to the next.” — American Minister and theologian John Fullerton MacArthur
I RECALL, probably ten years ago, how shocked I felt (and incredulous) seeing and hearing kids, as young as three, dishing out invectives and cursing each other just because they were either winning or losing while playing violent video games, such as Mobile Legends (ML) and Defense of the Ancients (DOTA).
The experience really unmanned me as I never realized how our young’uns today—projected by our national hero Dr. Jose Rizal as our country’s future—have become boorish, disrespectful and downright unruly.
So, what do we really expect from them?
I guess we’ll just be frustrated as most of today’s kids have misplaced aspirations and misguided ways of acquiring them.
And why?
For us, the reason is because there is too much freedom for them to reach their ambitions.
Moreover, their surroundings and environment simply gives no room for them to grow and mature as uptight human beings. Adding to this is the problem of addiction to video games, suffered both by children and adults.
This habitual condition of millions of Filipinos playing violent online games could have long-term consequences for their mental condition. Actually, some experts are saying that it is very likely that such games can cause emotional and psychological problems.
While others may disagree and claim there are no negative effects, research from the American Psychological Association (APA) shows that long-term exposure to violent video games can desensitize players, especially minors, and they can lose their capacity for empathy and become disconnected from their families and friends.
Minors who play high-risk, mature games online have been found to be depressed, unable to sleep well and earn low grades in school. They can be prone to aggression and bullying others, among other negative effects.
The suspects, aged 14 and 15, in the notoriously famous Tacloban school shooting last June 22 were addicted to playing the shockingly violent GoreBox video game. This tells us that games which have players shooting or stabbing people dead are not offering good experiences for anybody, most of all children, and can cause mental health problems.
Unfortunately, the true “call to duty” for all adults, especially parents, which is to protect children from all possible harm and promote well-being, kindness, respect for life, care and understanding for the vulnerable and compassion and love for others, have all disappeared. Most have forgotten that these basic Gospel values taught by Jesus of Nazareth make us become true Christians who embrace love of neighbor and reject violence of all kinds, including those in video games.
A recent Senate inquiry recommended that GoreBox be blocked temporarily even as warnings were issued regarding platforms like Roblox over child-grooming risks.
Our lady senator Ana Theresia ‘Risa’ Hontiveros-Baraquel enthused that the real enemy was adult groomers and extremist rings, like the global 764 Network, that “target, brainwash and radicalize vulnerable children into committing real-world acts of violent extremism.”
And there are commentators and cybersecurity experts, and even some lawmakers, who point to deep-seated systemic failures of telecommunications corporations (telcos), like the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT), Globe Telecommunications and DITO Telecommunity, and their associated internet service providers (ISPs) that allow the proliferation of violent video games, as well as child abuse and exploitation, over their servers without obeying or implementing the law on it.
In this aspect, it has been pointed out that our officials at the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), led by the savvy Ms. Ella Blanca Lopez, failed to monitor and implement the law to restrict the proliferation of abusive material detrimental to children.
But we are all captives of the telcos and their ISPs even when they fail to implement Section 9 of Republic Act 11930 that requires them to install robust, state-of-the-art technology, programs or software to filter and block access to child sexual abuse or exploitation materials.
What do we want our children to really experience when they play soul-crushing games full of bloodshed? Still, playing violent video games offer a virtual escape from childhood abuse and bullying.
A United Nations Children’s Fund report says that Filipino children continue to experience alarmingly high levels of violence, abuse and exploitation, which are heavily amplified by online platforms. The Philippine Social Science Council has cited recent data showing there are systemic violations of children’s rights at home, including violent discipline and sexual abuse. Online bullying, cyberviolence and even child labor remain deeply entrenched. All of these issues need full attention.
Common sense tells us that shooting and stabbing people dead online must have some negative emotional and psychological effects on both adults and children. While experts emphasize that playing violent video games does not automatically cause a child to become a killer, social media and gaming algorithms are heavily blamed for gang violence on the streets. These algorithms repeatedly serve graphic, violent and aggressive content to minors.
So, don’t be surprised that there are so many school shootings in the United States. Research referenced by Harvard Health and the National Center for Health Research shows studies establishing violent video games as a risk factor for aggression. It confirms that playing them can increase aggressive thoughts, feelings and behaviors, and decrease empathy.
However, other studies show that real-world severe violence is driven by family history, genetic predisposition, mental illness, abusive environments, peer delinquency, and access to weapons. Video games, they say, do not serve as a primary catalyst for criminal actions.
The reality is that in most cases, children get involved in criminal activity because of neglect, cruelty, hunger, bullying and physical and sexual abuse by adults.
The truth is that they are children with urgent needs and criminalizing them by lowering the age of criminal responsibility is not a solution. They need help, not punishment and more cruelty.
Acceptance, positive reinforcement, support, understanding, education, therapy and moral values taught by a caring adult will help them grow and change—in this, parents play the lead role and carry the burden of responsibility.
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