School caravans for mental health start next week

MANILA, Philippines —  To help raise mental health awareness among Filipinos, the National Center for Mental Health (NCMH) will conduct school caravans starting next week, followed by psychosocial wellness activities in workplaces.

NCMH medical center chief Dr. Noel Reyes said that as part of the activities for the National Mental Health Week, school tours aimed at improving the country’s mental health literacy will be held in learning institutions.

“To fight mental health stigma, there is a need to talk about it, increase awareness and enhance the mental literacy of Filipinos by incorporating it in the (school) curriculum,” Reyes said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon program yesterday.

“There is a need to provide safe spaces for people wherein they can freely express themselves and talk about what they are experiencing,” he added.

Reyes said it is important for teachers and parents as well to be aware of the needs of the students. “Let us listen actively, we have to use kind words and be open to all of this because it is a different kind of pressure this generation is experiencing compared to the older generation,” he added.

According to the NCMH official, mental health caravan is scheduled in FEATI on Oct. 14, and the Holy Child Catholic School on Oct. 15.

Reyes said that there will also be activities promoting mental health at the Department of Education central office and the Schools Division Office of Marikina City on Oct. 19.

Apart from school caravans, the NCMH will also lead psychosocial wellness activities in workplaces. The NCMH said among those that will engage in this wellness activity are the Manila City government on Oct. 15, and the Food and Drug Administration on Oct. 29.

National Mental Health Week is being observed every second week of October. This is to promote public awareness and intensify support for mental health.

Schools, tech firms liable under proposed bill

Schools and technology companies proven to have committed lapses or neglect in reporting potential cases of grooming among children and brewing school violence could be held liable under the proposed Batang LIGTAS (Law against Internet Grooming and Technology-facilitated Abuse and Sexual exploitation) Act.

DOJ Assistant Secretary Michelle Anne Lapuz reported yesterday that the proposed bill contains an “expanded coverage” of acts that constitute online abuse and sexual exploitation. She emphasized the proposed law would protect children from both “online and offline harms.”

Crafted following incidents of violence inside schools including shooting incidents since June this year, Lapuz said the “Batang LIGTAS” bill contains “specific responsibilities and accountabilities of government agencies, the private sector, and communities to prevent all forms of harm against children.”

For instance, she declared that “tech platforms and financial tech companies are mandated to put in place age assurance and age appropriation protocols,” which could help set limits to the age of children allowed to have access to online platforms and their content.

Schools and universities and their personnel would also be involved in the proposed bill, wherein they would be considered as “frontline defenders” in detecting “red flags” among children such as sudden change in behavior, according to Lapuz.

Should the schools fail to detect and report relevant incidents as part of their responsibilities, Lapuz said the schools would be held liable.

Child rights-based protection, not socmed ban

Meanwhile, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Philippines yesterday urged policymakers to take a comprehensive safety-by-design and child rights-based approach to online protection as proposals to restrict children’s access to social media platforms continue.

UNICEF emphasized that effective protection requires safer environments, not simply focusing on digital space or restricting access to social media platforms.

“Children are being exposed to real harm in digital environments that were not designed with their safety and well-being in mind. At the same time, we must recognize that growing up today means growing up in a digital world, and children’s experiences online and offline are deeply interconnected, with risks in one environment often fueling harm in the other,” said Kyungsun Kim, UNICEF representative to the Philippines.

“We all have a shared responsibility to ensure that digital platforms are safe, age-appropriate and rights-respecting by design, while strengthening the systems and support that help keep children safe in their homes, schools, and communities,” she added. – Ghio Ong, Pia Lee-Bragoae