Safety first!

By Maria Katrina Hallare | Field and Emergency Communications Specialist

BENGUET — Like any other teenager these days, 14-year-old Jochebed is always on the internet especially when it comes to using social media.  

“I’m always on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. I love watching anything about cooking. It’s somehow my therapy every time the screen goes on and something delicious is being whipped up,” she says. 

It is also through social media that she can talk to her friends. “The internet and social media have helped me in a lot of ways,” she adds. “I can send them photos of what I’m doing so they’d be updated.” 

However, it’s not always everything pleasant that you see on cyberspace, as Jochebed has learned. “One time, an ad popped up of a nude person right before the video I searched started playing,” she admits. “It happened twice to me.” 

Since she was unsupervised by her parents that time when she saw the malicious ad, the girl says the best thing that she did was to report it. “The second time I saw the ad, I pressed the ‘report’ button so it could be taken down. I never saw that ad again,” Jochebed says. 

Jochebed’s family is one of the beneficiaries in a project fighting against child labor called the Child Labor-Effective Awareness and Response in Cordillera Administrative Region (CLEAR CAR), a project implemented by World Vision and Lingap Pangkabataan, Inc. CLEAR CAR is co-funded by one of the European Union’s grants to civil society projects working with people living in vulnerable conditions. Part of the project’s goals is to also combat the online sexual abuse and exploitation of children (OSAEC). 

According to the 2020 census of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), there are close to 14.8 million households nationwide who have access to the internet, with CAR — where the province of Benguet lies — is recognized as the second region with the highest proportion of households having internet access at 62.8 percent. The most recognized age group with using the internet the most are those between 18-34 years old with 86 percent. 

Meanwhile, a study led by the International Justice Mission (IJM) in 2020 found that 86 percent of victims of OSAEC in the Philippines are girls. On another note, IJM, in its “Scale of Harm” report released in 2022 reported that half a million or 1 in every 10 Filipino children were forced to partake in the production of child sexual exploitation materials.  

With this, the child protection team of World Vision has given some tips on how children and youth can ensure safe internet usage:  

• Promote respect and create kind communication in providing comments and posting of messages 

• Avoid cyberbullying and immediately report such cases when witnessed one or have experienced/in it 

• Online actions like sharing of images and/or messages can have consequences. 

• Must be made aware and understand the difference between appropriate and inappropriate content 

• Must know to recognize suspicious behavior and interactions that could fall them into the hands of online predators and scams 

• Practice critical thinking by questioning what they see and hear online 

• Use privacy settings in social media to limit who can see and react to your posts and personal details 

• Do not share your full name, address, phone number, birthday, your social media account password and other sensitive information in your social media account 

• Do not add/accept individuals you do not know 

• Learn to identify illegal online activities organized by unauthorized groups/organizations.  These activities may seem to offer fame and cash prizes to attract children and youth 

• Be responsible in behaving even online for it will have an effect (positive and/or negative) in your life and to the life of other children and youth including adults. 

Reach to a trusted and responsible individual when in doubt, feeling uncomfortable, or in unsafe situation.