With ECQ, parents urged to monitor youth’s online activities; warned of porn and explicit materials

POPCOM LOGO | INQUIRER.NET FILE PHOTO

CEBU CITY, Philippines — With the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) implemented in most parts of the country, the government’s population management agency warns parents on the improper exposure of children to porn and other explicit materials online.

The Commission on Population and Development (POPCOM) on Friday, April 13, 2020, issued a press release encouraging parents to monitor internet activities of their children, particularly teens, considering that the ECQ directs the latter to spend more time with gadgets.

“This makes teenagers potentially exposed to explicit content that may negatively influence their sexual maturation. It may also lead them later to consider early sexual encounters that may eventually result in early pregnancies,” said POPCOM.

Citing a 2013 study from the Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality, POPCOM said more than half of Filipino youth had been exposed to the internet, with incidents of exposure to pornography prevalent in the regions of Caraga (66.7 percent), and the National Capital Region (66.2 percent).

“(We) strongly believe it is better that adults initiate the chats, rather than their children sourcing their knowledge on sex and sexuality from their peers or worse, the internet,” they added.

POPCOM also advised adults to maximize the government’s orders to stay at home by reinforcing familial bonds as means to boost self-esteem and life-skills of the youth.

The statement also quoted POPCOM Undersecretary Juan Antonio Perez III saying that parents should properly guide their children when navigating the internet during their process of sexual maturation.

“We at POPCOM believe that the first communication on human sexuality should still be between humans: parents and children at that — instead of interactions by our kids over the Internet,” Perez was quoted on saying./dbs