The Department of Education (DepEd) on Thursday warned that efforts to prevent school violence should look beyond social media, saying violent content from foreign incidents, YouTube and television programs could contribute to copycat behavior among vulnerable young people.
DepEd Undersecretary Malcolm Garma raised the concern during a Senate hearing on the recent school shootings in Tacloban City and Zamboanga City, noting that digital platforms can bring violent incidents from other countries to Filipino students almost instantly.
“If we really would like to call out yung platforms natin, baka hindi lang po yung sa local, hindi lang yung nag-emanate … here in the Philippines but also those emanating from other countries,” Garma said.
He cited a shooting in Thailand that went viral shortly before the Zamboanga incident but stressed that DepEd could not determine whether it influenced the shooting at the Ateneo de Zamboanga University Junior High School campus.
Garma said the broader concern is the possibility of imitation.
“Copycat is actually a phenomenon po. Kaya there’s really strong tendency that it can be copied,” he said.
He added that DepEd received feedback indicating that YouTube content may have influenced the earlier Tacloban case, highlighting the difficulty of controlling the wide range of material children can access online.
Garma said, however, that the issue extends beyond the internet.
Children in areas with limited connectivity may still encounter violent themes through traditional television, prompting him to call for closer examination of regular television programming.
“Baka it’s also high time, Madam Chair, to review the content of our regular programs. If you can observe, marami ho tayong programs, yung mga regular drama programs natin, has something to do with hatred, with anger, with revenge, with the use of firearm,” Garma told members of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality.
He noted that television remains widely accessible even in areas with limited internet connectivity, making traditional media another potential source of influences absorbed by children.
The concern forms part of DepEd’s broader review of the factors surrounding school violence, including external influences, individual motivations and behavior, as the agency strengthens security and preventive measures in schools.
DepEd is also enhancing threat assessments, psychosocial interventions and emergency preparedness while seeking to improve school safety without turning campuses into heavily fortified environments.
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