PNP to study link between online violence, minors’ behavior

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Wednesday said it will study whether there was a connection between minors’ exposure to violence online and their behavior in school.

This came after the fatal shooting incident at a Tacloban City high school in which three students were killed, while several others were injured.

Police previously said one of the suspects had allegedly played a “violent” game before the attack.

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“[The PNP] will… review studies and research outputs on the connection between exposure to online violence of minors and their behavior in school and in the community,” PNP Chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. said.

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READ: Gov’t blocks violent online game after Tacloban school slays

“Advocacy groups and other stakeholders usually possess a plethora of research and study results on this particular subject matter, and they fully know what they are talking about,” he explained.

“On the part of the PNP, we want to sit down with them to come up with the proper and best measures on how to deal with children regarding their exposure to violent games and other online games,” he added.

In the wake of the incident, the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) banned the game, which it identified as GoreBox.

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Nartatez said the PNP will coordinate with the CICC regarding the ban.

“The Anti-Cybercrime Group will take the lead in the coordination not only with the CICC but also with other government agencies and stakeholders,” he explained.

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“As law enforcers, we also have the obligation to initiate measures that will protect all our kababayan, particularly minors, from the harmful effects of exposure to online violence. And this is what we intend to do on this matter,” he added. /mcm

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