Due to the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), people have to stay at home. Only one person is authorized to get out of the house to buy food, medicines, and other much-needed supplies. Meanwhile, vulnerable members of the population such as children and old people are to be protected at all times; thus, many localities impose a 24-hour curfew for students and senior citizens.
But with limited options in terms of recreation for the kids, many parents have resorted to allowing their kids to use cellphones and other gadgets as well as extending their screen time for watching TV and using computers.
In line with that, the Department of Education (DepEd) seeks to remind parents that they should continually guide their children on internet use. In a move to help provide the kids with alternative learning activities while at home and help keep them out of social media sites as much as possible, the education department launched DepEd Commons.
The online resource aims to discourage the use of social media which poses a lot of risks for children, explained Undersecretary Alain Pascua. But the primary goal of DepEd Commons is to provide access to digital learning resources that kids can use to still learn their lessons even while at home.
“We reiterate that parents should guide their children when they are online, especially (on) social media. Precisely [this is] why we made DepEd Commons as a platform so learners will not go directly to social media sites like Facebook s that might give them inappropriate information,” explained Pascua.
Access to DepEd Commons is through this website: https://commons.deped.gov.ph
Teachers and learners can use the site. They have to register to use the site using their name and email address. The kids would likely need parent supervision on this one, at least during the registration process.
Pascua reminds parents of the importance of guiding their children about their use of the internet, particularly because bullying and other dangerous behaviors abound on various social media sites. Children might also stumble on inappropriate content they aren’t supposed to watch.
SCP Chief Executive Officer Atty. Alberto Muyot explained that though children and young people do have the right to express themselves through the digital platforms and access information on the internet, parents and guardians should still make sure these young ones are being monitored over their internet use.
“They are easy prey for online predators,” Muyot added.
