Poe bats for ‘social media awareness’ lesson in schools

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Grace Poe has filed a measure seeking to make social media awareness part of the curriculum for both primary and secondary education in public and private schools.

Senate Bill No. 129 or the “Social Media Awareness in Schools and Universities Act of 2019” was one of the 10 measures that Poe filed Tuesday for the 18th Congress.

“Magandang lugar ang mga paaralan para maimulat ang mga kabataan sa responsable, mapanuri at produktibong paggamit ng social media,” Poe said in a statement.

“Kailangang mabigyan din sila ng sapat na impormasyon kung ano ang maaaring i-post, ano ang mga dapat iwasang paniwalaan agad, at kung paano mag-beripika ng mga datos, para na rin ito sa kanilang kaligtasan,” she added.

In the bill’s explanatory note, Poe cited a study that revealed Filipinos spend an average of 10.02 hours a day on the internet; 79 million Filipinos aged 13 and older are on social media; and that Filipinos spend most of their time on social media at four hours and 12 minutes on average daily.

Poe noted how students are free to “actively” tweet, post, comment, and like on social media, so schools should play a key role in ensuring that students are engaging in the digital community “responsibly and productively.”

She said the bill aims to promote effective and efficient use of social media in spreading information; shaping public discourse and opinion; fostering a more participative democracy; upholding truth and veracity of facts; and discernment, critical thinking, and enjoyment.

Moreover, Poe proposed that social media awareness becomes part of the National Service Training Program (NSTP), particularly in the service components regarding the Literacy Training Service (LTS) and the Civic Welfare Training Service (CWTS). (Editor: Katherine G. Adraneda)