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Philippines Puts Curfew on Internet Cafes for Minors
Pao|o writes "The Philippine government, in all its wisdom, has recently passed laws to restrict the use of the net by minors. Read more about it here." Specifically, they're worried about Internet cafes. The story (in the Phillipine Daily Inquirer), says, "Concern over the operation of Internet centers heightened after Supt. Louie Oppus, Tagbilaran police chief, revealed that these establishments are being watched because they have become
favorite hangouts of drug pushers and drug users."
I wouldn't say that this is anything to do with net controls. It seems more the concern of truancy and deliquancy. The curfew hours are 7am-5pm. So the kids can go to the Cafes and stay there all night?
The opposite. The curfew is that kids CAN'T use the net 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.. That way, they won't skip school to hang out in internet cafe's.
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Discuss
Skip school if you're responsible enough to compete in the real world. If you've got the discipline, you've got a better chance.
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I'm pretty sure we will see news of this kind happen many times more (not only related to children) - the internet and its possibilities (fast information interchange, difficulties to filter/control content) must be a threat for any kind of anti-democratic government.
People in 'unfree' countries aren't dumb, but they don't have ways to inform themselves except for the government-ruled media (see Iraq, Serbia etc.). So the Internet can help people forming an opinion on political questions that is made up on the basis of facts, not propaganda. Unfortunately, access to the Internet is restricted already by the simple fact that even a low-cost PC is not affordable in many countries, even without artificial intervention by governments. Hopefully, this will change. As long as access is only possible at a couple of internet cafes, control is still relatively easy, you simply have to close them for whatever reason you come up with (drugs dealers etc.).
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Really? I mean, a poster above was correct when they posted that this deals more with the subject of truancy. I know that some arcades in San Diego, California, won't let children under a certain age during certain times during the day in much the same vein. It's because the kids are suppose to be in school anyways, so they shouldn't be at the Internet Cafe. The article makes no mention of the Internet being inherently bad, it just makes a small mention of the banning of viewing porn, and what's wrong with that (it is a public place after all)? What I find most interesting is this: this article is about the Philippines. Not the U.S., Europe, or Australia. The Philippines. And it found its way on /.
OK, so school kids aren't allowed to go into Internet cafes around school hours due to problems with drug dealers...Is this really such a terrible thing? it seems that if kids need to use computers during these times, they could use the ones at school. If they need a computer outside of school badly enough for the two or three hours a day that the curfew and school don't overlap, get a part-time job. This isn't some human rights violation
It's strange. Before I got into computers (Junior Yr. High School, about 6 years ago)
I was a truant myself. Except I'd hang out in arcades, movies, comic shops and so on. THey'd all have a "no one under 18 between 8am and 3:30pm" policy or whatever. now truants are computer geeks. My, how the world changes in such a short time. programming is what made me stay in school.. (the cute chica that used to sit next to me in english class helped a little too)... now i'm about to graduate with a BS in CS (hey, i made a rhyme!) and now the computers are making kids skip school? Funny, really... Being an American born Filipino it makes me wonder if the schools over there even have computers and internet. I've never been there, and from family tales and photos it looks like it's pretty underdeveloped... At least the areas where my family is from.
"Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear, Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair... Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn't fuzzy was he?"
Although I don't know about Phillipino schools first hand, I would think that in a community chock full of internet cafes the schools would have at least moderate internet connectivity. It's unfortunate that your American public school was under-connected; mine wasn't, and it's been my experience that most aren't. /. (As has been pointed out by other posters.)
But that's all beside the point; the curfew isn't about the man keeping kids away from technology; it's about kids needing to be in school during school. the fact that this curfew is targeted at internet cafes is irrelevant; it could just as easily have been video arcades...but that wouldn't have shown up on
I guess if some third world country comes up with what is basically an add-on to a truancy law, then they must be f*cked up liberals. It's common sense people!...would you want your minor kid hanging out at an internet cafe instead of going to school?
If we assume that there is really drug-pushing going on in these cafes, and kids are skipping school to hang out there, then this is a good idea.
/. suspects.
It is good to see a country accepting the responsibility for its children. Instead of throwing their hands up and getting them out of their hands with vouchers or other such garbage.
The wacko libertarian racist viewpoint has been expressed elsewhere in this thread though, as you would expect from the usual
The story is nothing to worry about as it is a truancy issue and not one of Internet censorship.
The point that seems to missing here is how much the Phillipines has matured. 5 years ago, an average citizen could not possibly use the Internet. Even now, outside of large cities, most homes don't have a telephone. In rural areas, one public cellular is often shared by the entire community.
It is very nice to see that the Phillipines is embracing technology. Maybe this (along with politcal reforms which seem to be coming slowly) will help the Phillipines out of a very bad economic situation.
Just so you know where I'm coming from, I'm a from that country... and I'd like to note a few things:
Point the first: These kids are supposed to be in school, going to school, or coming home from school, during the hours of the ban. I know we all agree that The Internet Is A Wonderful Thing, but so is a structured and regular education. That's part of how we in America invented the Internet in the first place-- a large body of mandatorily educated adults.
When someone can make a good demonstration that a child sitting unsupervised on the Internet for eight hours a day will be more aptly prepared for the complexities of adult life, I'll rethink my position.
I smell sacred cow-burger because this involves the Internet.
Point the second: This is not entirely different from passing laws to keep your kid out of video arcades during the day.
Point the Third: We are talking about children, here. It is accepted legal policy (and just plain good sense) that children by their natures are not the most qualified individuals to plot the courses of their own lives. We can quibble about statistical outliers, special circumstances, and whether the cutoff should be 14, 16, 18, or 21 years, but the sense of it remains.
Therefore, children do not have the same spectrum of rights as adults. Among other things, they are told to get their kiesters in school, not to drink, not to do drugs, not to gamble, not to drive automobiles, and so forth.
When they become adults, their status and spectrum of rights change accordingly.
Point the Fourth: The only way this law could be improved is to split the fine between the legal gaurdians (to keep the parents' responsibilities uppermost in their minds) and the shopkeepers (to prevent them from enticing the kids with impunity.) That, and maybe apply the same fines (if they are not already) to comic book shops, video arcades, movie theaters, and wherever else Philippine kids spent their truancy hours, these days.
I think this is a reasonable measure to combat truancy. (which is the real aim of it, despite the spin put on it by /. and some posters) The law seems to be specifically geared towards children who should be in school, and shouldn't really impact anybody else. (witness the number of qualifying clauses: children under 18, during school hours, unless going there for a class, unless accompanied by a parent, etc. etc. -- these all provide 'outs' for kids' legitimate use during school hours)
We should be more worried about laws like those being passed in Australia and elsewhere, than something that seems reasonable and narrow in focus like this...
Wherever there's a will, there's a motorway.
Ok - you did admit you have never been here.
1) They can waste their time in school too. The Tagbilaran police merely inform your parents if kids are caught skipping school for IRC. Our schools are pretty liberal - most of their problems stem from lack of resources, not censorship.
2) Note that the curfew is from 7AM to 5PM. Whatever you do outside those hours is your concern. This means you can hit IRC after school and skip homework, *if your parents let you*.
3) We get plenty of politics and dangerous ideas in school. Press freedom is important here. (Witness the rallies and headlines here - we're currently fighting for our right to criticize the government...)
That being said - you're thinking of China, perhaps, or Singapore. Funny how all those Orientals all look alike, right?