From banning a video game to lowering the age of criminal responsibility in the Philippines, various proposals have sought to address the shooting incident that killed three children and injured 20 others in Tacloban City.
The Tacloban shooting incident, which involved two children in conflict with the law (CICL) aged 14 and 15, has sent this Christian-majority nation into soul-searching mode.
Many policymakers and concerned citizens have failed to realize, however, that youth violence cannot be attributed to any single factor.
It is not just the video game GoreBox. It is not just the extremist network 764. It is not just the age of criminal responsibility, which is currently set at 15.
Liane Alampay, a psychology professor at Ateneo de Manila University, said in a recent Senate hearing that violent behavior among young people stems from multiple reasons. “We often say that the root causes of why young people turn to violence are systemic,” Alampay said. “Online games are only one of the reasons.”
