Our children, gun control and social media access

Three school shootings in three months. Six students dead. Many wounded. Families destroyed. The Philippines has crossed a threshold and we simply cannot keep treating each attack as an isolated case.

On June 22, two students opened fire inside San Jose National High School in Tacloban. Three students were killed while many others were wounded. On Aug. 18, a student at Ateneo de Zamboanga shot a schoolmate dead, livestreamed the attack and took his own life.

Then, on Sept. 18, came Banga National High School in South Cotabato. A student fired into a neighboring classroom, killing two students and wounding eight before killing himself. Authorities said he had warned friends to leave before the shooting. They thought he was joking.

How many more warnings must children give us before we listen and take action?

Three attacks have exposed two dangers demanding immediate action. First, that many young Filipinos are now celebrating violence, thanks to the influence of social media. And second, that loose regulations give children easy access to firearms. We must confront both issues, head on.

Social media does not automatically turn children into killers. But some social media platforms amplify anger, circulate graphic violence and expose children to people who glorify murder. Social media show children a path to revenge and global notoriety. In fact, authorities are investigating reports that the Banga shooter participated in an online community where school attackers were idolized.

The Zamboanga attack showed another danger. The young gunman livestreamed the killing, turning a schoolmate’s brutal murder into content. When shared on the internet, such footage re-traumatizes the victim’s families, rewards the attacker’s craving for attention and influences other troubled children.

Cyberbullying is more insidious. Cyberbullying follows children home. Humiliation can spread through group chats and remain online for years. Children struggling with isolation, family problems or mental distress have nowhere to escape.

Impose age limits

The US Surgeon General has warned that social media cannot be considered sufficiently safe for children. Adolescents spending more than three hours daily on it face twice the risk of poor mental health outcomes, including symptoms of anxiety and depression. These symptoms are the seeds of violence, a hankering for revenge and a craving for attention.

Australia has set a precedent. Since December 2025, platforms including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, X, Reddit and YouTube were mandated to take reasonable steps to keep under-16s from holding accounts. The obligation rests with the companies, which face steep penalties for systemic failure.

Malaysia began barring children under 16 from registering social media accounts in June. Indonesia has gone further in defining the target. It is restricting under-16 accounts on designated high-risk services, including TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, X, YouTube and Roblox. These countries recognize that parents cannot protect children from harmful content on their own. Social media companies must share in the responsibility.

That said, the Philippines should impose a minimum age of 16 for accounts on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, X, YouTube and similar public, algorithm-driven platforms. Congress should also mandate the DICT to apply the age limit to new platforms that pose similar risks to children. Platforms must verify users’ ages while protecting their privacy, close accounts held by children under 16 or face heavy fines if they fail. Parents should not be able to waive the age limit.

What I am pushing for is not a ban on using the internet but rather, for selective access. Children should still retain access to messaging, school resources, health information and age-appropriate entertainment.

For their part, parents and schools must provide counseling on digital literacy and confidential ways to report bullying or threats. When a student speaks about hurting others, adults must know how to respond. In Banga, a warning was heard. It must never again be dismissed as a joke.

Gun control

But even the best online safeguards cannot protect a classroom if a child can obtain a firearm.

The weapons used in Tacloban were reportedly connected to a police officer and a security agency. In Zamboanga, at least one gun reportedly belonged to the attacker’s father, a Bureau of Customs officer. In Banga, the student used his father’s pistol after forcing open the vault where it was kept.

Gun owners should be required to keep firearms unloaded, locked and inaccessible to minors, with ammunition secured separately. Negligent storage should bring license revocation and serious penalties, including criminal liability. Police, military, customs and security personnel must meet the strictest standards before licenses to own and carry are granted.

Schools need controlled entry, trained guards, reliable threat-reporting systems and emergency plans that staff have practiced. Inspections, where necessary, should be discreet and respectful. Safety must be real without turning every classroom into a fortress.

No single measure will prevent attacks. An age limit will not resolve mental distress. A locked gun will not end bullying. But reducing a child’s access to a firearm can keep a moment of rage from becoming a funeral. A safer online environment can reduce exposure to those who celebrate such violence. An adult who takes a warning seriously may stop an attack before it begins.

Every child who walks into a Philippine school tomorrow should expect one thing – to return home alive.

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Email: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @aj_masigan